Iris No. 70 • March 2013 The Alberta Native Plant Council Newsletter Plasmodial Slime Molds in Alberta by Jim Posey All Elements—the most likely place for a definitive list—and could not find any. Turning to the Web, I found several references to an article by Richardson and Currah, “Myxomycetes of Alberta,” and on the University of Alberta Libraries website I finally tracked down a link to it. It turns out that seventy- some species have been collected here. It is likely that there are more, yet to be documented. These Web resources stand out for the information they provide about these species: • The Eumycetozoan Project at the University of Arkansas: http:// slimemold.uark.edu Fuligo septica growing on forbs Photo D. & M. McIvor (Jan. 18, 2013) Plasmodial slime molds sound lovely, demonstrated the ability to navigate • Lado, C. (2005-2013). An online don’t they? Bob MacDonald, on Quirks mazes or to find the shortest network nomenclatural information system and Quarks, characterized them as of paths connecting multiple points of Eumycetozoa. http://www. single-cell organisms the size of a efficiently, plasmodial slime might nomen.eumycetozoa.com Real pizza. That piqued my interest. If one never have made the news, although Jardín Botánico, CSIC. Madrid species, Physarum polycephalum, had not Fuligo septica, or dog vomit slime mold, © 2005-2013. (Jan. 18, 2013) is popular on the Web and does occur in Alberta. • Mushroom Observer species In this Issue . Interesting! list of Myxomycota: http:// mushroomobserver.org/species_ Whitehorse Wildland Park ............................................. 6 I decided to ask how many Discovery of Impoverished Pinweed .......................... 8 list/show_species_list/58?_ Puzzling Pairs: Chickweeds.......................................... 10 of these species occur js=on&_new=true (Jan. 18, 2013) Plant Study Groups ....................................................... 12 naturally here. I looked at [requires Javascript to be enabled] News and Events .......................................................... 13 the Alberta Conservation Annual Workshop Registration Info .......................... 14 Information Management System (ACIMS) List of See Slime Molds, page 2 Slime Molds, from page 1 Catalogue of Life, Global Biodiversity in size from a few millimetres to half Information Facility (GBIF), and a metre in diameter. A net of tubes • Discover Life, IDnature Encyclopedia of Life (EoL), but this arrayed something like veins in a leaf, guide to Mycetozoa: http:// scheme is not used universally. Slime capable of passing through openings as www.discoverlife.org/ molds have traditionally been regarded small as a micrometre is a typical form. mp/20q?guide=Mycetozoa_ as fungi, but are now regarded as GSMNP (Jan. 18, 2013) amoebozoa. Within the group, visually The cell is motile and moves slowly observable features determine the through the environment engulfing • and not least: http://www. taxonomy and the keys in common use. small particles of organic material cybertruffle.org.uk/cyberliber/ This may not reflect their evolution. including decayed plant material, 59575/0037/0363.htm Never mind. You would not want a bacteria, and fungi. Some tubes fan (Jan. 18, 2013) where the first page phylogenetic key to use in the field. out in search of food, others retreat and links to subsequent pages of Higher taxonomic trees ending at where none is found, and larger tubes “Myxomycetes of Alberta” are to plasmodial slime molds include: efficiently exchange nutrients between be found. locations of concentrated food sources. • Natura/Mundus/Naturalia/Biota/ Species that occupy drier environments Not surprisingly, The “Myxomycetes Eukaryota/Protozoa/Myxomycota/ are sheathed in slime. of Alberta” article is not a field guide. Myxomycetes (SN. Myxogastria)/ Discover Life provides an interactive from Systema Naturae 2000 In some species at least, the identification guide that allows you plasmodium leaves a chemical trace to select whatever characters you are • Protozoa/Fossil Amoebozoa/ of its passage (of slime or excreted sure about and then displays a list of Incertae sedis/Incertae sedis/ waste) that the organism avoids, thus remaining possibilities with links to Incertae sedis/Myxomycetes avoiding retracing its steps. This is species pages that provide descriptions, Renault 1895, Myxomycetes how Physarum polycephalum is said to references, distribution maps, and manginii Renault 1896, “remember” which paths have been (often) photographs. If it asked more Myxomycetes shigaphagus explored in a maze. Why does it questions, and did not produce such Salimbeni 1920, Myxomycites connect points efficiently? Since the long lists of possibilities when you’ve Mesch. 1898/ from Index protoplasm streams back and forth answered all the questions, this might be Fungorum inside the cell, from one source of all you need if you have the specimen food to another, short paths conserve and access to the Web side by side, or if • Cellular organisms/Eukaryota/ energy, and it makes sense that all but you have noted the relevant features. Amoebozoa/Mycetozoa/ the shortest paths between points are Myxogastria/ from the US National abandoned. How it does this is another If you have a photograph, you can Center for Biotechnology question. See http://www.youtube. post it to Mushroom Observer with com/watch?v=mvBSkt6LhJE your identification where other • Protozoa/Mycetozo/Myxomycetes for an example of a slime mold users can concur or comment, thus from Species 2000 & ITIS exploring its environment, finding crowd-sourcing confirmation of your Catalogue of Life: May 2012 food, and optimizing connections, identification. or http://www.youtube.com/ There are others. If you’re going to watch?v=czk4xgdhdY4 for a slime For devotees of paper, Myxomycetes: A try to sort this out, you’ll be in good mold initially filling a maze, then Handbook of Slime Molds by Stephenson company. abandoning all but the shortest path & Stempen, provides keys, descriptions, between two food sources. and drawings of the species most likely Life as a Blob to be encountered in North America. Slime Sex It includes species that have not been When they are actively feeding and recorded in Alberta (which could be a growing, Myxomycetes can become The plasmodium can go into a sort of good thing—you might well find a new enormous single cells (plasmodia) with hibernation (called a sclerotium) from one), but does not include twenty-some thousands of nuclei. They start life which it can recover, or transform of those that have been recorded. small, as a zygote with a single nucleus into one of a variety of spore-bearing that divides, and divides again as the structures by differentiating into walled Most resources use the taxonomy cell grows. Plasmodia are often buried of Lado, including Species 2000, in decaying vegetation, and can range See Slime Molds, page 3 2 Iris No. 70 • March 2013 Slime Molds, from page 2 cells, some of which form support structures and die, and others of which become Alberta Native Plant Council haploid spores that are released into the environment. Garneau P.O. 52099 Edmonton, AB T6G 2T5 When the spores germinate they produce cells of two types: amoeba-like and website: www.anpc.ab.ca flagellated. These haploid cells feed and divide, and can become cysts that can e-mail: [email protected] survive for extended periods. Or, they can fuse (this is where sex comes in) when President they encounter one another, amoeboid with amoeboid, and flagellated with Kelly Ostermann [email protected] flagellated, to produce diploid zygotes that become plasmodia within which the nuclei divide and increase in number as the cell gets bigger, bringing the cycle back Vice- President Leslie Monteleone to the beginning. Spores, sclerotia, and cysts are durable and ensure survival when [email protected] conditions are not favourable. Secretary Laurie Hamilton Myxomycetes are unusual among slime molds in that recognition is often possible [email protected] in the field, from their spore-bearing structures (fruiting bodies or frutifications), Treasurer plasmodia, and sclerotia. Other slime molds generally have to be cultured in the Amar Keshri lab and identified using a bright-field microscope when they have produced spores. [email protected] The frutifications often resemble mushrooms, but because they’re generally Directors Marsha Hayward (Northern) 2 mm high, or less, appreciation of their structures requires a good hand lens, field [email protected] microscope, or digital camera with high-resolution macro capabilities. Tony Blake (Central) [email protected] Vacant (Southern) Where Slime Lives Chrissie Smith (Nature Alberta) [email protected] The most common substrata are moist rotten wood and bark of dead trees and Membership Secretary fallen logs, although a variety of other vegetation supports some species. Most Kelly Ostermann species are believed to be widespread, although some are tropical. A distribution [email protected] map usually says more about the distribution of observers and their favourite Volunteer Coordinator haunts, than about the distribution of a slime mold. Eastern and mid-western states Janine Lemire in the U.S. have been more extensively studied than Alberta. As with distribution, [email protected] not a lot is known about their ecology. The collections we have provide less Conservation Action information about habitat and substrate than might be desired. “Wood” is the John