Physarum polycephalum sclerotium is commonly referred to as plasmodial, or true slime molds. They have been classified in the Myxomycophyta as part of the Fungi slime molds, but they are now known to be quite unrelated to the fungi. Plasmodial slime molds are basically huge single cells with thousands of nuclei. They are formed when individual flagellated cells come together and fuse. The result is one large bag of cytoplasm with many diploid nuclei. The vegetative stage is a large, single cell containing multiple diploid nuclei that divide precisely at the same time. Plasmodia engulf bacteria, myxomycete amoebae, and other microbes. They also secrete enzymes for digesting the engulfed material. When they are in unfavorable conditions, plasmodia can transform into a dormant hardened mass, also called sclerotium that can survive for long periods. In the presence of light, it starves which creates specialized sacs called sporangia, clusters of spores. The starvation is a regulated process that involves the conversion of macroplasmodium into fruiting bodies. Haploid spores are produced inside the fruiting bodies by meiosis. On a side note, my roommate and I named the PPS Jeff, so I will continue to use that name as a short cut. …show more content…
After placing the dried Jeff, I taped up the plate and left it unopened for a week. After one week was up, I placed a dry piece of honey nut Cheerio near the oat flakes. For my next experiment, I cut through one of the branches of Jeff. While I was conducting the previous two experiments, I observed which way Jeff grew. One side was always dark, and the other side was always