Simple Slime not so Simple Anymore Single-celled slime moulds work together to improve their chances for survival. Now Daniel Dickinson and his colleagues at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, have discovered that the humble slime Dictyostelium discoideum forms a specialised tissue known as a polarised epithelium that rivals forms found in multicellular animals. The findings suggest the building blocks for multicellularity existed long before the first animals evolved. When food is scarce for the slime mould, a fungus-like creature that lurks in damp soils, they join up to create a stalk and cap structure that spreads their spores to a new home. The tip of this fruiting body is made up of the polarised epithelium (pictured above). Proteins similar to the animal equivalents of alpha- and beta-catenins (in orange) help the slime mould organise components within each cell to specialise the function of the overall tissue. Journal reference: Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1199633

Simple Slime not so Simple Anymore

Single-celled slime moulds work together to improve their chances for survival. Now Daniel Dickinson and his colleagues at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, have discovered that the humble slime Dictyostelium discoideum forms a specialised tissue known as a polarised epithelium that rivals forms found in multicellular animals. The findings suggest the building blocks for multicellularity existed long before the first animals evolved.

When food is scarce for the slime mould, a fungus-like creature that lurks in damp soils, they join up to create a stalk and cap structure that spreads their spores to a new home. The tip of this fruiting body is made up of the polarised epithelium (pictured above). Proteins similar to the animal equivalents of alpha- and beta-catenins (in orange) help the slime mould organise components within each cell to specialise the function of the overall tissue.

Journal reference: Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1199633