From morphological to molecular: studies of myxomycetes since the publication of the Martin and Alexopoulos (1969) monograph

Stephenson, Steven L.

doi:10.1007/s13225-011-0113-1

Cited by 58 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…The fact that there is little similarity between the myxobiota of the selected studies from neighbouring areas, even though it is greater than from similar environments in America, also contradicts this idea. Other studies have suggested that a moderate endemicity model proposed by Foissner (2006) is probably closer to the manner of distribution in these microorganisms Wrigley de Basanta et al 2009, 2010, 2011Lado et al 2011). The latter papers highlighted specific assemblages of myxomycetes with restricted distribution developing on plants in areas of the Americas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…The myxomycetes are eumycetozoans, traditionally considered to be fungi, but now molecular data and an increasing amount of data accumulated over the last few decades, indicate that they are amoebozoans (Stephenson 2011). The only myxomycetes previously published from Madagascar are 10 species cited by Patouillard (1928), almost a hundred years ago.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biodiversity studies of myxomycetes in Madagascar

Basanta

Lado²,

Estrada–Torres³

et al. 2012

Fungal Diversity

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The results of the first comprehensive study of myxomycetes from the island of Madagascar, a world biodiversity hotspot, are reported in this paper. The island is of continental origin, the fourth largest in the world, and has been geographically isolated for more than 160 million years, since its separation from Gondwanaland. The isolation, size and topography of Madagascar have triggered the development of a great variety of different habitats and favoured multiple evolutionary pathways, resulting in many animals and plants that exist nowhere else on earth. Fieldwork for the biodiversity survey of the central and southern parts of the island took place in May 2009, to coincide with the end of the rainy season. Tropical moist forest, sclerophyll forest and dry forest were selected for sampling in Ranomafana, Andringitra, Andohahela and L'Isalo National Parks. Some unique vegetation was sampled in the spiny dry forest and succulent scrub with plants from the genera Alluaudia, Euphorbia, Kalanchoe and Pachypodium. The survey produced 124 species from 22 different genera in more than 750 myxomycete collections. In this paper one species, Perichaena madagascariensis, is described as new to science, 21 species are new records for Africa, and 106 are reported for the first time from Madagascar. Some unusual collections included Physarum lakhanpalii that appeared on Ravenala madagascariensis, Fuligo intermedia and Licea nannengae found on Adansonia grandidieri, Perichaena pulcherrima, Physarum dictyosporum, and P. echinosporum on Euphorbia and Licea rufocuprea on bark. The scope, methods and results of this survey are included in this paper, and comments are made on the ecology, distribution and substrate association of the myxomycetes of these areas of Madagascar. Macrographs, micrographs and SEM images of interesting species are included. The results indicate that the island of Madagascar has a unique assemblage of species of myxomycetes, different from neighbouring islands and from similar but distant environments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity studies of myxomycetes in Madagascar

Basanta

Lado²,

Estrada–Torres³

et al. 2012

Fungal Diversity

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“…Several previous studies (e.g., Härkönen 1981, Stephenson 1989, Tran et al 2008, Rollins & Stephenson 2012) have used the moist chamber technique to document the presence of myxomycetes on dead leaves, and the fact that some species are consistently associated with this type of microhabitat has been noted in monographs (e.g., Martin & Alexopoulos 1969) and ecological treatments (Stephenson 2011) of the group. All of the species represented by an appreciable number of records in the present study typically occur on leaf litter.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The myxomycetes (also referred to as myxogastrids or plasmodial slime moulds) are a group of fungus-like organisms that have been known from their fruiting bodies (or sporocarps) since at least the mid-17th century (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969, Stephenson 2011. Approximately 900 species are known (Lado 2005(Lado -2013, and some of these apparently occur anywhere on earth where there are plants and thus plant detritus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Myxomycetes appearing in moist chamber cultures on four different types of dead leaves

Goad¹,

Sl²

2013

Mycosphere

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Goad AE,Stephenson SL 2013 -Myxomycetes appearing in moist chamber cultures on four different types of dead leaves.Mycosphere 4(4), 707-712, Doi 10.5943/mycosphere/4/4/7 AbstractOne of the microhabitats available for myxomycetes in temperate forests is represented by the layer of dead plant material that accumulates on the forest floor. This layer, referred to as the litter layer, consists mostly of dead leaves from the trees that make up the forest canopy. In the present study, leaves from four different species of trees (dogwood, red maple, sycamore and white oak) were collected from the upper portion of the litter layer and used to prepare moist chamber cultures to determine whether each type of leaf displayed evidence of supporting a different ecological assemblage of myxomycetes. Leaves were collected on two occasions, January 2012 and January 2013. Forty moist chamber cultures were prepared for each type of leaf on each date, for a total of 320 cultures for the entire study. Most of these (60.6%) yielded some evidence (either sporocarps or plasmodia) of myxomycetes, and 21 species in nine genera were represented among the 244 records of sporocarps recorded from the cultures. Members of the order Physarales made up 59% of all records, with members of the orders Stemonitales (30%) and Trichiales (11%) relatively less important. Major differences existed in the productivity of the two sets of leaf samples (with 2013 appreciably more productive than 2012) and for particular types of leaves (with dogwood characterized by an overall positive value of 92.5% and sycamore with an overall positive value of only 11.5%). Remarkably, the set of samples of sycamore leaves collected in 2013 yielded no positive cultures.

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“…Today we know that the myxomycetes are neither plants, nor fungi or animals -they are highly modified amoeboid protists and members of the Amoebozoa. 3,[7][8][9][10] A recent, comprehensive phylogenetic analysis for 109 eukaryotic protists (17 -18 Amoebozoa) based on 60 -188 genes revealed that this key phylum is monophyletic. The myxomycetes are, together with the related Dictyostelea, members of the subphylum Conosa, which, together with the sister group Lobosa, form the monophyletic taxon Amoebozoa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species-specific cell mobility of bacteria-feeding myxamoebae in plasmodial slime molds

Hoppe

Kutschera

2015

Plant Signaling & Behavior

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On decaying wood or litter in forests, plasmodial slime molds (myxomycetes) represent a large fraction of eukaryotic protists that feed on bacteria. In his seminal book Experimental Physiology of Plants (1865), Julius Sachs referred to the multinucleate plasmodium of myxomycetes, which were considered at that time as primitive plants (or fungi). Today it is well established that myxomycetes are members of the Amoebozoa (Protista). In this study we compare the mobility of myxamoebae of 3 European species, Lycogala epidendrum (order Liceales), Tubulifera arachnoidea, and Trichia decipiens (order Trichiales). Using agar plates, on which 3 separate bacterial species were cultivated as prey organisms (Methylobacterium mesophilicum, Escherichia coli, Agrobacterium tumefaciens), we document large differences in cell motility between the myxomycetes investigated. In addition, we show that the 3 species of myxamoebae can be distinguished based on their average cell size. These data shed light on the mode of co-occurrence via differential substrate utilization in these members of the Amoebozoa.

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From morphological to molecular: studies of myxomycetes since the publication of the Martin and Alexopoulos (1969) monograph

Cited by 58 publications

References 90 publications

Biodiversity studies of myxomycetes in Madagascar

Biodiversity studies of myxomycetes in Madagascar

Myxomycetes appearing in moist chamber cultures on four different types of dead leaves

Species-specific cell mobility of bacteria-feeding myxamoebae in plasmodial slime molds

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