What is Slime Molds in diversity of life?
Acrasiomycota and Myxomycota are appropriately named slime molds. They are slimy! The other part of their name comes from the time when slime molds were thought to be fungi, and these organisms are definitely fungus-like. There are two types of slime molds - the plasmodial slime molds (Acrasiomycota) and the cellular slime molds (Myxomycota).
The plasmodial slime molds are usually brightly colored, often yellow or reddish-orange, and are structurally similar to amoebae because they form blobs, or masses of protoplasm that stream.
The protoplasmic blob shown above does not have individual cells, but instead contains many nuclei that are free to roam about. The plasmodial mass moves by amoeboid movement and engulphs food particles in its path. These organisms feed on organic detritus, or debris. When conditions deteriorate, the plasmodium balls up and produces fruiting bodies supported on a stalk (shown below). It then undergoes the process of meiosis, resulting in spores which are then dispersed.
On the other hand, as their name implies, the cellular slime molds are made of individual cells that function on their own. However, when the food supply dwindles, the cells all act in unison to aggregrate and mound up to form distinctively shaped reproductive fruiting bodies.