Acrasidae
| Acrasid Slime Molds | |
|---|---|
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| Acrasis rosea, amoebe and spores | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Excavata |
| Superphylum: | Discicristata |
| Phylum: | Percolozoa Cavalier-Smith 1991 |
| Class: | Heterolobosea Page & Blanton 1985 |
| Order: | Acrasida |
| Family: | Acrasidae |
Acrasidae is a family[1] of slime molds which belongs to the protist group Percolozoa. The name acrasio- comes from the Greek Akrasia, meaning "acting against one's judgement." This group consists of cellular slime molds.
Some would also consider it as a kingdom unto itself, but the debate is as of yet unsettled.
The term "Acrasiomycota" has been used when the group was believed to be a fungus ("-mycota").
[edit] Reproduction
When resources such as water or food become limiting, the amoeba will release pheromones such as acrasin to aggregate amoebal cells in preparation for movement as a large (thousands of cells) grex or pseudopod. When in the grex, the amoeboids reproduce sexually, resulting in fruit-like structures called spores, which develop into unicellular molds of the same species.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Roger AJ, Smith MW, Doolittle RF, Doolittle WF (1996). "Evidence for the Heterolobosea from phylogenetic analysis of genes encoding glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase". J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. 43 (6): 475–85. doi:10.1111/j.1550-7408.1996.tb04507.x. PMID 8976605.
- C.J. Alexopolous, Charles W. Mims, M. Blackwell et al., Introductory Mycology, 4th ed. (John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken NJ, 2004) ISBN 0-471-52229-5
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