Chapter 18: Viruses and Bacteria Computer Test Bank Drug-Resistant Strains of Disease

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Chapter 18: Viruses and Bacteria Computer Test Bank Drug-Resistant Strains of Disease UnitUnit 66 Unit 6 UnitUnit 66 Viruses, Bacteria, Advance Planning Viruses,Viruses, Chapter 18 Protists, and I Order live Oscillatoria for the Fungi Project. Bacteria,Bacteria, I Order prepared slides of both heterotrophic and autotrophic Unit Overview bacteria for the Activity. Chapter 18 introduces students Protists,Protists, I Order sterile agar plates for to the characteristics of viruses the Quick Demo and BioLab, and to the structure, ecology, and and bacterial cultures and importance of bacteria. In Cha- andand FungiFungi antibiotic disks for the BioLab. pter 19, students study the diver- I Order slides of cocci, bacilli, sity and classification of protists. and spirilla for MiniLab 18-2. Finally, in Chapter 20, students Only about 1.8 million of an estimated 10 million species have been identified. Most of Chapter 19 learn about the characteristics I and diversity of fungi. Order live protozoans for the the unidentified species probably belong to Getting Started. kingdoms that you will study in this unit. I Introducing the Unit Order Paramecium for Mini- However, some members of these kingdoms, Unit Projects Lab 19-1 and for the BioLab. Naturalist Organize students I such as those shown in the photograph, are Order Euglena for the Project into groups. Ask each and BioLab and methyl cellu- group to estimate how many well known. lose for the BioLab. species live on Earth and to I Purchase slides of some proto- explain their reasoning. To zoans for the Quick Demo. emphasize the diversity of life on UNIT CONTENTS I Order termites for the Meet- Earth, ask students to list all the ing Individual Needs. living things that they see in the 18 Viruses and Bacteria I Order diatomaceous earth for photo. L1 COOP LEARN 19 Protists the Activity. I Order brown and red algae for P 20 Fungi the Quick Demo. I Order Physarum polycephalum BIOIODIGESTIGEST Viruses, Bacteria, for the Alternative Lab. Protists, and Fungi LS Chapter 20 I Grow mold on fruit for the Getting Started. P UNIT PROJECT I Purchase preserved specimens of Peziza for the Quick Demo. Use the Glencoe Science I Web Site for more project Order a mushroom farming kit activities that are connected to this unit. for the Project. LS www.glencoe.com/sec/science 486 Unit Projects UnitUnit ProjectsProjects Make a Poster Interview a Specialist Display Using the Library Final Report Microbes and Food Visual-Spatial Design and produce Linguistic Interview a restaurant Visual-Spatial Make a bulletin Intrapersonal Find out about state Have each group present its findings to Have students do one of the projects for a poster about foods that com- owner about how his or her prac- board from news articles about and federal laws that regulate food the class in the form of an oral report, this unit as described on the Glencoe Science monly carry disease-causing organisms. tices ensure food safety. L2 both harmful and beneficial microbes. handlers. Report on these laws and how demonstration, or poster. Web Site. As an alternative, students can L1 ELL L1 ELL they help to prevent food contamination. do one of the projects described on these L3 two pages. P P 486 487 P P LS LS P P LS LS LS LS Unit Projects Chapter 18 Organizer Viruses and Bacteria Refer to pages 4T-5T of the Teacher Guide for an explanation of the National Science Education Standards correlations. Teacher Classroom Resources Activities/FeaturesObjectivesSection MastersSection TransparenciesReproducible Reinforcement and Study Guide, p. 79-80 L2 Section Focus Transparency 43 L1 ELL Section 18.1 1. Identify the different kinds of viruses. MiniLab 18-1: Measuring a Virus, p. 490 Section 18.1 2. Compare and contrast the replication Problem-Solving Lab 18-1, p. 494 Concept Mapping, p. 18 L3 ELL Basic Concepts Transparency 25 L2 ELL Viruses cycles of viruses. Careers in Biology: Dairy Farmer, p. 495 Viruses BioLab and MiniLab Worksheets, p. 85 L2 Basic Concepts Transparency 26 L2 ELL National Science Education Focus On Viruses, p. 498 Laboratory Manual, pp. 125-128 L2 Reteaching Skills Transparency 27 L1P ELL Standards UCP.1, UCP.2, Content Mastery, pp. 89-90, 92 PL1 P UCP.5; A.1, A.2; C.5; F.1, P F.5; G.1-3 (2 sessions, P 1 Reinforcement and Study Guide, pp. 81-82 PL2 Section Focus Transparency 44 L1 ELLP /2 block) Section 18.2 LS Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, p. 18 L3 Basic Concepts Transparency 27 L2P ELL LS P LS Archaebacteria BioLab and MiniLab Worksheets, pp. 86-88P L2 Reteaching Skills Transparency 28PL1 ELL and Eubacteria LS Section 18.2 3. Compare the types of prokaryotes. Inside Story: A Typical Bacterial Cell, p. 503 Laboratory Manual, pp. 129-132LS L2P LS P LS 4. Explain the characteristics and adapta- MiniLab 18-2: Bacteria Have Different Content Mastery, pp. 89, 91-92 L1 P Archaebacteria and tions of bacteria. Shapes, p. 506 LS P Inside Story Poster ELL LS P Eubacteria 5. Evaluate the economic importance of Problem-Solving Lab 18-2, p. 508 P LSP LS P National Science Education bacteria. Design Your Own BioLab: How sensitive LS LS Assessment Resources Additional Resources P Standards UCP.1, UCP.2, are bacteria to antibiotics? p. 512 P LS UCP.5; A.1, A.2; C.1, C.4, Biology & Society: Super Bugs Defy Drugs, P P LS Chapter Assessment, pp. 103-108 Spanish Resources ELL LS C.5, C.6; E.1, E.2; F.1, p. 514 LSP LS MindJogger Videoquizzes English/Spanish Audiocassettes P F.4-6; G.1-3 (3 sessions, LS ELL 1 Performance Assessment in the Biology Classroom Cooperative Learning in the Science Classroom COOPLS LEARN 1 /2 blocks) LS Alternate Assessment in the Science Classroom LS P LessonLS Plans/Block SchedulingP Computer Test Bank LS P LS BDOL Interactive CD-ROM, Chapter 18 quiz Need Materials? Contact Carolina Biological Supply Company at 1-800-334-5551 KeyKey toto TeachingTeaching StrategiesStrategies or at http://www.carolina.com LS LS L1 Level 1 activities should be appropriate LS MATERIALS LIST for students with learning difficulties. LS L2 Level 2 activities should be within the BioLab Alternative Lab ability range of all students. Teacher’s p. 512 bacteria cultures, sterile nutri- p. 504 screw-top test tubes, distilled L3 Level 3 activities are designed for above- ent agar, petri dishes, antibiotic disks, water, vinegar, Schultz liquid plant average students. Corner The following multimedia resources are available from Glencoe. sterile filter paper disks, marking pen, food, Accent seasoning, baking soda, ELL ELL activities should be within the ability Products Available From Index to National long-handled cotton swabs, forceps, 60-watt light bulb, soil samples range of English Language Learners. Biology: The Dynamics of Life Glencoe Geographic Magazine incubator, metric ruler COOP LEARN Cooperative Learning activities CD-ROM ELL Quick Demos To order the following products, The following articles may be P are designed for small group work. Animation: The Lytic Cycle MiniLabs p. 491 bolt, nut (2), #22 gauge wire P call Glencoe at 1-800-334-7344: used for research relating to this P These strategies represent student prod- Animation: The Lysogenic Cycle P CD-ROM chapter: p. 490 metric ruler, pencil, paper p. 504 petri dishes (2), sterile nutrient ucts that can be placed into a best-work BioQuest: Biodiversity Park P NGS PictureShow: The Cell “Body Beasts,” by Richard P P p. 506 microscope, paper, prepared agar, soap, labels portfolio. Video: Binary Fission slides of bacteria p. 509 Swiss cheese, pickles, vinegar, Curriculum Kit Conniff, December 1998. LS These strategies are useful in a block Videodisc Program sauerkraut, yogurt, peas, beans, soy- LS scheduling format. NGS PicturePack: Cells and “The Rise of Life on Earth,” by beans, peanuts, milk, sour cream LS Microorganisms Richard Monastersky, March 1998. Lytic Cycle LS “Viruses: On the Edge of Life, LysogenicLS CycleLS Products Available From On the Edge of Death,” Peter Binary Fission National Geographic Society Jaret, July 1994. The Secret of Life Series To order the following products, “Bacteria: Teaching Old Bugs Flu Virus call National Geographic Society New Tricks,” by Thomas Y. Bacteria Virus–Phage at 1-800-368-2728: Canby, August 1993. Videos “The Disease Detectives,” by Bacteria Peter Jaret, January 1991. Virus! 488A 488B ChapterChapter 1818 ChapterChapter SECTION PREVIEW Section Objectives Section 18.1 Identify the different 18.1 Viruses kinds of viruses. ETTING TARTED EMO Viruses and Bacteria Compare and contrast GETTING STARTED DEMO 18 the replication cycles of Prepare viruses. Visual-Spatial Prepare Vocabulary ow many childhood diseases Key Concepts a wet mount slide of bac- Magnification: 4600؋ virus teria from one of the colonies What You’ll Learn have you had—chicken pox, host cell The structure and replication bacteriophage in the Getting Started plates. I You will categorize viruses Hmumps, German measles, cycles of viruses are described. capsid Use a drop of crystal violet or and bacteria. whooping cough? These diseases occur lytic cycle The origin of viruses is also dis- I You will explain how viruses methylene blue to stain the mostly in children and therefore are lysogenic cycle cussed and their relationship to and bacteria reproduce. called childhood diseases. When your provirus bacteria and place a cover slip I You will recognize the med- retrovirus living cells. over them. Have students ob- ical and economic importance grandparents were young, these child- reverse transcriptase P serve the bacteria under high of viruses and bacteria. hood diseases were so common that Planning most children got them. Today, the power. L1 ELL I Collect metric rulers and elec- Why It’s Important availability of vaccinations makes Viruses and bacteria are impor- these diseases rare.
Recommended publications
  • Sounds Synthesis with Slime Mould of Physarum Polycephalum
    Miranda, Adamatzky, Jones, Journal of Bionic Engineering 8 (2011) 107–113. Sounds Synthesis with Slime Mould of Physarum Polycephalum Eduardo R. Miranda1, Andrew Adamatzky2 and Jeff Jones2 1 Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research (ICCMR), University of Plymouth, Plymouth, PL4 8AA UK; [email protected] 2 Unconventional Computing Centre, University of the West of England, Bristol, BS16 1QY UK; [email protected] Abstract Physarum polycephalum is a huge single cell with thousands of nuclei, which behaves like a giant amoeba. During its foraging behaviour this plasmodium produces electrical activity corresponding to different physiological states. We developed a method to render sounds from such electrical activity and thus represent spatio-temporal behaviour of slime mould in a form apprehended by humans. We show to control behaviour of slime mould to shape it towards reproduction of required range of sounds. 1 Introduction Our research is concerned with the application of novel computational paradigms implemented on biological substrates in the field of computer music. Computer music has evolved in tandem with the field of Computer Science. Computers have been programmed to produce sounds as early as the beginning of the 1950’s. Nowadays, the computer is ubiquitous in many aspects of music, ranging from software for musical composition and production, to systems for distribution of music on the Internet. Therefore, it is likely that future developments in fields such as Bionic Engineering will have an impact in computer music applications. Research into novel computing paradigms in looking for new algorithms and computing architectures inspired by, or physically implemented on, chemical, biological and physical substrates (Calude et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Culturing Slime Mold
    Culturing Slime Mold Live Material Care Guide SCIENTIFIC BIO Background FAX! Plasmodial slime mold (phylum Myxomycota) lives in dark, moist environments such as under the bark of decaying logs, among mulch, or beneath decaying leaves. Slime mold classification is once again changing. They were in Protista due to their amoeboid-like properties. In the past, slime molds were considered a fungus because they produce fruiting bodies and spores used for reproduction. Slime molds are a group notable for its unwillingness to be neatly classified! Frequently bright in color and large in size (up to 30 cm in diameter), plasmodial slime molds consist of many amoeba-like cells, which form a mass of protoplasm called myxomycota. The organisms are capable of very slow, creeping movement by means of cytoplasmic streaming. During the reproductive stage, called pseudoplasmodium, slime molds tend to migrate to a well-lit area, such as the top of a log, where less moisture is present. They form into a slug-like mass and produce reproductive fruiting bodies, which contain spores. Under adverse conditions (lack of food, water, light, warmth, or pH changes), the organism dries out and forms a hardened mass called a sclerotium. These sclerotia may also grow fruiting bodies, but do not release spores into the environ- ment until conditions once again become favorable for growth. Spores are transported by wind, which results in the spreading of slime molds to new areas. Sclerotium (unfavorable conditions) Pseudoplasmodium (favorable conditions) Aggregate (plasmodial stage) Amoeba/spores Reproductive Fruiting Bodies Figure 1. Life Cycle of Slime Mold Culturing/Media Slime mold is typically cultured from sclerotia rather than from spores.
    [Show full text]
  • Physarum Polycephalum - Large Stages by Aggregation of Many Small Amoeboid Cells
    Overview Life cycle Physarum polycephalum is the most well- The life cycle of Physarum can be roughly di- known and in the laboratories of cell biologists vided into three phases: plasmodium, fruiting most cultivated representative of the slime body and spores. The large, network-shaped molds (myxomycetes), of which there are plasmodia contain numerous nuclei with a about 900 species. Slime molds combine char- double (= diploid) set of chromosomes, which acteristics of fungi (the formation of fruiting divide synchronously when the cell grows. For bodies) and animals (possession of motile sex growth, the plasmodia need to take up food cells), but are not directly related to either of such as protists, bacteria, fungi, lichens, plant them. Instead, they systematically belong to and animal remains. In the laboratory, the plas- the Amoebozoa, which usually contain tiny, modia can be easily fed with oatmeal. single-celled amoebae. The macroscopically visible life form of Physarum represents a gi- gantic amoeba, i.e. a single cell. This life form, known as plasmodium, contains a large num- ber of nuclei and forms a network of veins Fig. 1: Part of the yellow plasmodium of Physarum (Figs. 1-3). With the help of fluid cell plasma polycephalum with system of veins and migration flowing rhythmically in the veins, the plasmo- front. dium slowly moves. In contrast to this one gi- ant cell, other slime molds such as Dictyoste- lium discoideum (Protist of the Year 2011) form Physarum polycephalum - large stages by aggregation of many small amoeboid cells. The slime mold Fig. 3: Two approximately palm-sized slime molds in their natural habitat, here on the rotting branch of a fallen tree in Grunewald, Berlin.
    [Show full text]
  • Slime Molds: Biology and Diversity
    Glime, J. M. 2019. Slime Molds: Biology and Diversity. Chapt. 3-1. In: Glime, J. M. Bryophyte Ecology. Volume 2. Bryological 3-1-1 Interaction. Ebook sponsored by Michigan Technological University and the International Association of Bryologists. Last updated 18 July 2020 and available at <https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/bryophyte-ecology/>. CHAPTER 3-1 SLIME MOLDS: BIOLOGY AND DIVERSITY TABLE OF CONTENTS What are Slime Molds? ....................................................................................................................................... 3-1-2 Identification Difficulties ...................................................................................................................................... 3-1- Reproduction and Colonization ........................................................................................................................... 3-1-5 General Life Cycle ....................................................................................................................................... 3-1-6 Seasonal Changes ......................................................................................................................................... 3-1-7 Environmental Stimuli ............................................................................................................................... 3-1-13 Light .................................................................................................................................................... 3-1-13 pH and Volatile Substances
    [Show full text]
  • Physarum Polycephalum) by SPME
    Analysis of the volatiles in the headspace above the plasmodium and sporangia of the slime mould (Physarum polycephalum) by SPME- GCMS Huda al Kateb1 and Ben de Lacy Costello1 1Institute for biosensing technology, University of the West of England, Bristol, BS161QY, UK E-mail: [email protected] Abstract Solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) coupled with Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to extract and analyse the volatiles in the headspace above the plasmodial and sporulating stages of the slime mould Physarum Polycephalum. In total 115 compounds were identified from across a broad range of chemical classes. Although more (87) volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified when using a higher incubation temperature of 75oC, a large number of compounds (79) were still identified at the lower extraction temperature of 30oC and where the plasmodial stage was living. Far fewer compounds were extracted after sporulation at the two extraction temperatures. There were some marked differences between the VOCs identified in the plasmodial stage and after sporulation. In particular the nitrogen containing compounds acetonitrile, pyrrole, 2, 5-dimethyl-pyrazine and trimethyl pyrazine seemed to be associated with the sporulating stage. There were many compounds associated predominantly with the plasmodial stage including a number of furans and alkanes. Interestingly, a number of known fungal metabolites were identified including 1-octen-3- ol, 3-octanone, 1-octen-3-one, 3-octanol. In addition known metabolites of cyanobacteria and actinobacteria in particular geosmin was identified in the headspace. Volatile metabolites that had previously been identified as having a positive chemotactic response to the plasmodial stage of P.
    [Show full text]
  • Physarum Polycephalum (Plasmodial Slime Mold)
    Physarum polycephalum (plasmodial slime mold) Species: polycephalum Genus: Physarum Family: Physaraceae Order: Physarales Class: Myxomycetes Phylum: Mycetozoa Kingdom: Amoebozoa Conditions for Customer Ownership We hold permits allowing us to transport these organisms. To access permit conditions, click here. Never purchase living specimens without having a disposition strategy in place. There are currently no USDA permits required for this organism. In order to protect our environment, never release a live laboratory organism into the wild. Primary Hazard Considerations Always wash your hands thoroughly before and after you handle your cultures, or anything it has touched. It is recommended to use gloves when working with mold, fungus, or bacteria. Availability Physarum is available year round. Care Habitat • Plasmodial stage are shipped in a Petri dish on Physarum agar with oats. Your Physarum should be bright yellow in color, and fan shaped. If your Physarum takes on a different appearance it may be contaminated. Contaminated cultures occur when a foreign specimen (something other than Physarum) makes its way onto your culture. This culture should be stored at room temperature in a dark place. The culture should be viable for about 1–2 weeks in its current container. • Sclerotia are hardened masses of irregular form consisting of many minute cell-like components. These are shipped on cut strips of filter paper in a tube. The culture should be stored at room temperature and can be stored in this stage for several months. Care: • Physarum is subcultured onto Physarum agar, and is incubated at room temperature or 25 °C. To maintain viability, plasmodial Physarum should be subcultured weekly.
    [Show full text]
  • Physarum Polycephalum
    Title Study on biological transport network utilizing plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum Author(s) 秋田, 大 Citation 北海道大学. 博士(生命科学) 甲第12720号 Issue Date 2017-03-23 DOI 10.14943/doctoral.k12720 Doc URL http://hdl.handle.net/2115/65417 Type theses (doctoral) File Information Dai_Akita.pdf Instructions for use Hokkaido University Collection of Scholarly and Academic Papers : HUSCAP Study on biological transport network utilizing plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum (モジホコリ変形体を用いた生物学的輸送ネットワー クの研究) AKITA Dai (秋田 大) Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University March, 2017 3 Contents Abstract 5 Chapter 1 Introduction 7 Chapter 2 Backgrounds and Reviews 11 2.1 Rules of transport network . 11 2.1.1 Horton's law on river network . 11 2.1.2 Diameter exponent of biological transport network . 13 2.1.3 Transport network theory underlying scaling low . 16 2.2 Physarum polycephalum as a model organism . 17 2.2.1 Biology of slime mold . 17 2.2.2 Information processing of Physarum polycephalum . 20 2.2.3 Current-reinforcement model for vein network of Physarum polycephalum .......................... 22 2.2.3.1 Outline . 22 2.2.3.2 Theory to find flows in vein network . 24 Chapter 3 Materials and Methods 27 3.1 Culture of plasmodia . 27 3.2 Establishment of an evacuation network from a confined space . 28 3.3 Quantitative analysis of the network organisation and transport ca- pacity . 29 3.4 Validation methods for Murray's law . 29 Chapter 4 Results 31 4.1 Emergence of vein network and evacuation kinetics . 31 4.1.1 Evacuation networks form rapidly and remain topologically stable .
    [Show full text]
  • Myxomycete Plasmodia and Fruiting Bodies: Unusual Occurrences and User-Friendly Study Techniques Harold W
    Myxomycete Plasmodia and Fruiting Bodies: Unusual Occurrences and User-friendly Study Techniques Harold W. Keller,*1 Courtney M. Kilgore, Sydney E. Everhart, Glenda J. Carmack, Christopher D. Crabtree, and Angela R. Scarborough Department of Biology, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, Missouri 64093 Abstract of June to September in central and southeastern United States of Plasmodia, sclerotia, and fruiting bodies are stages in the myxo- America (Keller and Braun, 1999). mycete life cycle that are easiest to recognize in the field. These The myxomycete life cycle is shown in Figure 1 (A–N). Two stages can be found on different substrata such as living and dead myxomycete life cycle stages that reach size dimensions large plants and animals on the forest floor and in the canopy on bark enough to be seen with the unaided eye are the plasmodia (J, L) of living trees and vines. This paper describes unusual habitats of and fruiting bodies (N). The fruiting body contains the spores (A) myxomycetes on living lizards, mammal skulls, spiders, on other and serves as the reproductive unit of the myxomycete life cycle. myxomycetes and fungi, and provides additional information Spores are a dormant stage, usually visible as a powdery mass, needed to collect and identify these fascinating protists. The com- disseminated by wind, and less often by insects, raindrops, or plete myxomycete life cycle is illustrated in detail, including through hygroscopic and drying action of capillitial threads. Indi- trophic stages (myxamoebae, swarm cells, and plasmodia), and vidual spores range in size from 5 to 20µm in diameter and are dormant stages (spores, microcysts, sclerotia, and fruiting bod- haploid with one set of chromosomes.
    [Show full text]
  • Physarum Plasmodia Do Contain Cytoplasmic Microtubules!
    Physarum plasmodia do contain cytoplasmic microtubules! ISABELLE SALLES-PASSADOR, ANDRE MOISAND, VIVIANE PLANQUES and MICHEL WRIGHT Laboratoire de Pharmacologie et de Toxicologie Fondamentales, C.N.R.S., 205 route de Narbonne, 31077 Toulouse-Cedex, France Summary It has been claimed that the plasmodium of the dense and complex three-dimensional network, dis- myxomycete Physarum polycephalum constitutes a tinct from the microfilamentous domains and from very unusual syncytium, devoid of cytoplasmic the nuclei. The orientation of the microtubule microtubules. In contrast, we have observed a network varies according to the plasmodial domain cytoplasmic microtubule network, by both electron examined. Generally microtubules show no special microscopy and immunofluorescence in standard orientation except in plasmodial veins where they synchronous plasmodia, either in semi-thin sections are oriented parallel to the long axis of the veins. or in smears, and in thin plasmodia, used as a Differences between our observations and those of convenient model. Cytoplasmic microtubules could previous workers who failed to find cytoplasmic be seen after immunofluorescent staining with three microtubules in plasmodia are discussed. We pro- different monospecific monoclonal anti-tubulin anti- pose that they reflect difficulties of observation bodies. The immunolabelling was strictly restricted mainly due to the fluorescent background. In con- to typical microtubules as shown by electron mi- trast with the previous view, the discovery of a croscopy. These cytoplasmic microtubules were en- microtubule cytoplasmic cytoskeleton in Physarum tirely and reversibly disassembled by cold treatment plasmodia raises several questions concerning its and by either of two microtubule poisons: methyl relationships with other cellular organelles and its benzimidazole carbamate and griseofulvin.
    [Show full text]
  • A Would-Be Nervous System Made from a Slime Mold
    A Would-Be Nervous System Andrew Adamatzky** Made from a Slime Mold University of the West of England Keywords Slime mold, nervous system, unconventional computing Abstract The slime mold Physarum polycephalum is a huge single cell that has proved to be a fruitful material for designing novel computing architectures. The slime mold is capable of sensing tactile, chemical, and optical stimuli and converting them to characteristic patterns of its electrical potential oscillations. The electrical responses to stimuli may propagate along protoplasmic tubes for distances exceeding tens of centimeters, as impulses in neural pathways do. A slime mold makes decisions about its propagation direction based on information fusion from thousands of spatially extended protoplasmic loci, similarly to a neuron collecting information from its dendritic tree. The analogy is distant yet inspiring. We speculate on whether alternative—would-be—nervous systems can be developed and practically implemented from the slime mold. We uncover analogies between the slime mold and neurons, and demonstrate that the slime mold can play the roles of primitive mechanoreceptors, photoreceptors, and chemoreceptors; we also show how the Physarum neural pathways develop. The results constituted the first step towards experimental laboratory studies of nervous system implementation in slime molds. 1 Introduction The plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum (order Physarales, class Myxomecetes, subclass Myxo- gastromycetidae) is a single cell, visible with the naked eye, with many diploid nuclei [63]. The plasmodium feeds on bacteria and microscopic food particles by endocytosis. When placed in an environment with distributed sources of nutrients, the plasmodium forms a network of proto- plasmic tubes connecting the food sources (Figure 1a).
    [Show full text]
  • Physarum Polycephalum
    A HOMOTHALLIC STRAIN OF THE MYXOMYCETE PHYSARUM POLYCEPHALUM A. E. WHEALS Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, England Received May 27, 1970 HE life cycle of the Myxomycete Physarum polycephalum comprises two Takemating phases, a macroscopic multinucleate syncytial plasmodium and small uninucleate amoebae. Meiosis occurs during the formation of spores from the plasmodium and these spores hatch to give the haploid amoebae. The forma- tion of plasmodia from amoebae in strains investigated so far has been shown to be heterothallic (DEE1960) involving the fusion of two haploid amoebae and the subsequent fusion of their nuclei (Ross 1957). It is controlled by a mating-type locus (mt) at which four alleles are known (DEE 1966). A clone of amoebae carries only one mating type and plasmodia are normally formed only when clones of different mating type are mixed. P. polycephalum is potentially useful for the study of differentiation since it allows investigation of gene action in two distinct phases of cellular organization and during the synchronous morphogenetic process of sporulation. Unfortunately, although genetic analysis has been shown to be possible (DEE1962), progress has been slow because of the difficulty of selecting mutants. The uninucleate amoebae can be cultured only on bacteria so that the selective procedures and biochemical analyses which can be used on this stage are limited. The plasmodium can be grown in defined medium (DANIELet al. 1963), has synchronous mitosis and sporulation (HOWARD1932) and has been the subject of many biochemical studies (RUSCH1970). It has not seemed worthwhile to attempt isolating mutants at this stage in the life cycle because the plasmodium is multinucleate, diploid, and arises only by outcrossing.
    [Show full text]
  • SOP Physarum Polycephalum
    STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE: Physarum polycephalum (slime mould) care and use Note: To be undertaken only by trained personnel in conjunction with a current Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and site-specific risk assessment. ___________________ 1. Introduction Physarum polycephalum is a slime mould that grows in dark humid conditions under the bark of decaying trees and amongst leaf litter on the forest floor. It is used as a tool for demonstrating cytoplasmic streaming* locomotion, and plasmodial fusion* to students. Physarum polycephalum is purchased as a living organism and needs to be fed daily and subcultured to prevent it from outgrowing the petri dish. The plasmodium is the active feeding stage of the organism and consists of a mass of multinucleate protoplasm. In moving, the plasmodium may move along many fronts that are connected by veins. Streaming of protoplasm is easily seen within the veins. 2. Context These instructions are for teachers and technicians for the use of Physarum polycephalum for demonstration purposes only. 3. Safety notes Physarum polycephalum is a Risk Group 1* microorganism that is suitable for use in schools. It is not known to be toxic. The petri dish should remain closed during class demonstrations. Physarum polycephalum is a living culture that, if allowed to starve or dry out, may begin to sporulate*. The spores* are unlikely to generate microbial aerosols*. Wear gloves, safety glasses and lab coat/apron when handling. Regard all microorganisms as potential pathogens, and treat them accordingly. 4. Regulations, licences and permits Not applicable 5. Equipment For handling and cultivating PPE: safety glasses, gloves, lab coat, closed shoes A clean, non-traffic area to feed and subculture 70% ethanol (flammable) Rolled oats Sterile scalpel blade Figure 1 Physarum plasmodium Sterile forceps Fresh sterile plain agar plate Lab sealing tape Physarum should be stored at room temp away from bright light.
    [Show full text]