Transcript Fungus Like Protists

Fungus Like Protists
Slime Molds
&
Water Molds
Funguslike Protists
 Heterotrophs
 Absorb nutrients from dead or decaying organic matter
 Lack the chitin cell walls of true fungi
 Have centrioles unlike true fungi who lack them
Slime Molds
 Found in damp places that are rich in organic matter (forest
floor, compost pile)
 Play key roles in the recycling of organic material
 part of their life they resemble amoebas and at times form
moldlike clumps that release spores like fungi.
 2 main groups:
 Cellular slime molds
 Acellular slime molds
Cellular Slime Molds
 Belong to phylum Acrasiomycota
 spend most of life as a free-living cell that resembles an amoeba.
 When food is scarce they reproduce spores that can survive
adverse conditions
 Send out chemical “messages” that attract other cells of same
species which aggregate into a colony that behaves like a single
organism
 Colony produces fruiting bodies to release spores each of which
can become a new amoeba like cell.
Acellular Slime Molds
 Belong to phylum Myxomycota
 Similar to cellular slime molds except….
 When the amoeba like cells aggregate their cells fuse to
produce a structure with many nuclei known as a
plasmodium
 Fruiting bodies spring up from the plasmodium
Water Molds
 Belong to phylum Oomycota
 Live on dead or decaying organic matter in water
 Some are plant parasites
 One water mold caused the infamous Irish potato famine
 Phytophthora infestans