Question

Which of the following combinations of characters is true for slime moulds?
a. Parasitic, plasmodium without walls, spores dispersed by air currents
b. Saprophytic plasmodium with walls, spores dispersed by water
c. Parasitic, plasmodium without walls, spores dispersed by water
d. Saprophytic plasmodium without walls, spores dispersed by air currents

Answer 1

Hint: Slime mould is a familiar name given to some kinds of distinct eukaryotic organisms. It can live generously as single cells but can aggregate jointly to form multicellular reproductive structures. They are clustered within the paraphyletic group referred to as kingdom Protista.

Complete answer:
The entities from the communicable class-Myxomycetes are usually called true sludge molds. These are saprophytic and their vegetative stage is spoken to by a free-living unpredictably formed mass of cellular matter without dividers and having a little diploid core entrenched in it. It is termed as Plasmodium. In the middle of propagation, sludge molds generate haploid spores, which are scattered by means of airflows, rain, and vermin.
Slime molds are saprophytic organisms that structure vegetative amoeboid plasmodium and spores. The feeding phase takes the form of a giant amoeba with thousands of nuclei, called a plasmodium. The plasmodium is not separated by cell membranes but is enfolded by a single outer one. Many have brilliant colors such as yellow, brown, and white.

Hence, the correct answer is option (D).

Note: Slime molds start life as amoeba-like cells. These unicellular amoebae are normally haploid and feed on bacteria. These amoebae can mate if they meet the correct mating type and form zygotes that then rise into plasmodia. These enclose many nuclei without cell membranes between them and can produce to meters in size. The species Fuligo septica is habitually seen as a slimy yellow network in and on rotting logs.