Dictyostelium

Dictyostelium
Dictyostelium aggregations
Systematics
Classification : Creature Domain : Eukaryotes (eukaryota) without rank: Amorphea without rank: Amoebozoa without rank: Dictyostelia Genre : Dictyostelium
Scientific name
Dictyostelium
Bref. , 1869

Dictyostelium is a genus of slime mold and, under favorable circumstances, lives as a single cell in the ground. Ifthere is a lack offood, the unicellular amoebas form a multicellular association (social amoeba) and form a fruiting body, the so-called sorokarp ,on a long stalk, from which spores are released.

A representative of this genus, Dictyostelium discoideum , is a preferred model organism in cell and developmental biology ; its genome was deciphered in 2005 by an international team of researchers.

Taxonomy and phylogenetic origin

Due to its contradictory appearance and phylogenetic relationships, the evolutionary position of Dictyostelium was a matter of dispute that could not be satisfactorily answered for a long time. The chemotaxis of the amoeba and the photo- and thermotaxis of the amoeba in the pseudoplasmodium ("slug stage") stand in contrast to the mushroom-like appearance of the fruiting bodies and the cellulose-containing cell wall of later developmental stages, which would be more typical for plants.

Types (selection)

The genus was first described by Julius Oscar Brefeld in 1869 and includes around 50 species. The most common species is the type species Dictyostelium mucoroides .

• Dictyostelium discoideum
• Dictyostelium mucoroides
• Dictyostelium polycephalum

literature

Monika Unha Baik: Influence of CbfA on growth and development in Dictyostelium discoideum . Dissertation, 2004

Web links

Commons : Dictyostelium  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michael J. Dykstra, Harold W. Keller: Class Mycetozoa , In: John J. Lee, GF Leedale, P. Bradbury (Eds.): An Illustrated Guide to the Protozoa . tape 2 . Allen, Lawrence 2000, ISBN 1-891276-23-9 .