Fungus Like Protists

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Fungus Like Protists
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Charachteristics

• Prefer cool, shady, moist places and are usually
  found under fallen leaves or rotten logs.
• Show both animal like and fungus like stages.
• Saprotrophic- decomposers
• ExampleSlime molds

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Life Cycle of a Fungilike Protist
P.527
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Plasmodium

• Colorful, slimy mass containing many nuclei.
• Slowly moves along the forest floor and
  decomposes rotting logs and other decaying
  material.
• Leaves a slime trail behind- hence the name slime
  mold

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Plasmodium

• When conditions become unfavorable, the
  plasmodium stops moving around and develops
  reproductive structures called fruiting bodies.
  They produce spores which are released and
  carried away by the wind.
• If conditions are favorable, these spores develop
  into gametes called swarm cells. The swarm cells
  are chemically attracted to each other and fuse
  to form a zygote. The zygote then grows into a
  new plasmodium.