What are the dictyostelids?
Q: What are the dictyostelids?
A: The dictyostelids are a group of cellular slime molds, or "social amoebae".
Q: How do dictyostelids reproduce?
A: In hard times, dictyostelids come together to reproduce as a fruiting body, which produces spores with protective walls.
Q: Are dictyostelids unicellular or multicellular organisms?
A: Dictyostelids are both unicellular and multicellular. For much of their life, they live as separate cells, and then come together to reproduce as a multicellular fruiting body.
Q: What do dictyostelids eat?
A: Dictyostelids mostly eat soil bacteria.
Q: What happens when the food supply runs out for dictyostelids?
A: When the food supply runs out, dictyostelids come together to form a kind of slug-like thing that can respond to light and temperature differences and move.
Q: What is a sporocarp?
A: A sporocarp is a fruiting body that holds up one or more balls of spores. These spores are inactive cells protected by tough cell walls and become new amoebae when food is available.
Q: How is dictyostelium studied?
A: Dictyostelium has been used as a model organism in molecular biology and genetics, particularly as an example of cell communication, differentiation, and programmed cell death (apoptosis). Research on Dictyostelium is available online at dictyBase.
