Fungus like protists

1. Fungus-like Protists

2. FUNGUS-LIKE PROTISTS
similar to fungi in appearance and mode of nutrition
non-photosynthetic and undergo a particular stage
in their life cycle that is mold-like

3. Slime Molds
spend most of the life cycle as free-living, amoeba-like cells
(phagocytic)
found near rich sources of food (e.g. rotting wood, piles of
compost, thick wet lawns)
when nutrients are scarce and cells are starving, many of the
cells aggregate (coenocytic) and form a slimy mass that may
migrate to a more favorable location; which will later on form a
spore-bearing structure; when conditions improve, the spores
germinate, starting the cycle again

4. Coenocytic

5. Phylum Myxomycota
acellular or plasmodial slime molds
the plasma membranes and cell walls of the
aggregated amoebas break down, forming one large
cytoplasmic mass (multinucleate) which is the
feeding stage
the mass (plasmodium), which can be several square
meters in size, migrates and then forms spores

6. when conditions become unfavorable, the
plasmodium “fruits”, forming a spore-bearing
fruiting body which produce haploid spores by
meiosis
spores scatter to the ground where they germinate
into flagellated gametes which fuse to form a diploid
zygote (sexual reproduction) that undergoes mitosis
to produce diploid ameboid cells
e.g. Physarum

8. Physarum

9. Phylum Acrasiomycota
cellular slime molds
when the cells aggregate (pseudoplasmodium), they
adhere to one another but remain separated by their
cell membranes
this aggregation creates a slug-like form, which
migrates in search of a place to form a fruiting body
(reproductive structure) which produces spores by
mitosis
reproduction is asexual; no diploid stage in the life
cycle
e.g. Dictyostelium discoideum