Difference Between Slime Molds and Fungi

The key difference between slime molds and fungi is their cell wall composition. Slime molds have a cell wall composed of cellulose while fungi have a cell wall composed of chitin. Slime molds belong to the Kingdom Protista, and they are also called fungus-like protista.

1. Why are slime molds not considered fungi?
2. Are slime molds fungi?
3. How do you identify slime molds?
4. What characteristics do slime molds share with fungi?
5. What are the two types of slime molds?
6. Do slime molds move?
7. Why are slime molds Colourful?
8. Can you eat slime mold?
9. Why is slime mold yellow?
10. Where can slime molds be found?
11. What is slime in nature?
12. How do slime molds communicate?

Why are slime molds not considered fungi?

The plasmodium ingests bacteria, fungal spores, and maybe other smaller protozoa. Their ingestion of food is one reason slime molds are not considered to be fungi. Fungi produce enzymes that break down organic matter into chemicals that are absorbed through their cell walls, not ingested.

Are slime molds fungi?

Slime mold is not a plant or animal. It's not a fungus, though it sometimes resembles one. Slime mold, in fact, is a soil-dwelling amoeba, a brainless, single-celled organism, often containing multiple nuclei.

How do you identify slime molds?

You might see thin tendrils crawling across bits of wood or on the kitchen towel, they might be bright yellow, they might be beige but they're slime moulds! They're nearly impossible to identify when they're in the crawling around stage, it's the tiny mushroom like fruiting bodies you need for that.

What characteristics do slime molds share with fungi?

They were once confused as molds because they share some of the characteristics of fungus (cells are larger than bacteria, don't have chlorophyll, and do form clusters of spores at the top of stalked structures called sporangia), but slime molds lack chitin in their cell walls and they move.

What are the two types of slime molds?

There are two types of slime molds. The cellular slime molds are composed of single amoeboid cells during their vegetative stage, whereas the vegetative acellular slime molds are made up of plasmodia, amorphic masses of protoplasm.

Do slime molds move?

Slime molds may move slowly, but they excite scientists by their ability to get a lot done with very little. ... Slime molds don't have legs or any appendages. They eat bacteria and tiny fungi. And they move just by changing their shape.

Why are slime molds Colourful?

Plasmodia vary in size, form and colour. ... During dry or cold weather the plasmodium may convert into a hard, crust like form called a sclerotium. This enables the slime mold to go dormant until conditions become favourable. After sufficient feeding the slime mold migrates to a drier location with more light.

Can you eat slime mold?

Not only is slime mold harmless, it's also edible! In parts of Mexico it is gathered and scrambled like eggs in a dish they call “caca de luna” but we don't recommend that you eat it. Slime molds are not actually molds, fungi, plant, animal or bacteria—they consume fungi and bacteria on decaying plant material.

Why is slime mold yellow?

Fuligo septica contains a yellow pigment called fuligorubin A that is thought to be involved in photoreception and in the process of energy conversion during its life cycle.

Where can slime molds be found?

They feed on microorganisms that live in any type of dead plant material. They contribute to the decomposition of dead vegetation, and feed on bacteria, yeasts, and fungi. For this reason, slime molds are usually found in soil, lawns, and on the forest floor, commonly on deciduous logs.

What is slime in nature?

Slime is an unusual substance with a slippery, gooey texture that is produced by certain animals to fend off predators or fight disease — but it's also a lot of fun to make, as Live Science recently discovered.

How do slime molds communicate?

To reach the spore state, the cellular slime molds start out as single cells that communicate by exuding certain chemicals, among them acrasin. This compound is a call for fellow cells to aggregate into a tiny slug, rather than a plasmodium, that then crawls around until it proceeds to stalkdom.