Life History
When talking about slime molds Steve Stephenson (a professor of Biology at the University of Arkansas) explained: "Very few have been consumed as food. You can't build a house with them. They escape our noses most of the time" (Jacobson, 2012).
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Physarum polycephalum is a species of Plasmodial Slime Mold which is composed of plasmodium (hence the name) and is bright yellow in color (Department of Botany University of Hawai'i at Manoa, n.d.). Plasmodium is essentially a diploid mass with many nuclei and encased in a plasma membrane, making slime molds sporophyte ("Slime Molds", 2003). The plasmodium can go from a few millimeters up to twelve inches in diameter (Minx & Gott, 2014). It has branching tube like structures, which are slimy and grow out in a fan-like pattern as observed in the above photo (Chibber, 2014). Plasmodial Slime Molds have the ability to move, and Physarum polycephalum can do this about 1mm per hour at best (Chibber, 2014). Slime molds can live for long periods of time due to its transformation into sclerotium, which is a hardened and dormant substance. This protects it from unfavorable environments (Minx & Gott, 2014).
There is little information about the exact lifespan of slime molds, so I believe it is safe to assume this is variable. Slime molds are often found in forests in decaying plant matter, since this is their source of food (The Worlds of David Darling, n.d.). They thrive in damp and shady areas with mild temperatures ("Slime Molds", 2003). Slime molds must however be in moist areas or water for it to germinate. If the environment is not ideal for germination, the myxamoeba, the mass inside the spores, forms a protective layer around itself called the microcyst (which is made of cellulose) to shield it until a beneficial environment is available (Department of Botany University of Hawai'i at Manoa, n.d.). |