How cellular slime molds evade nematodes.
- 14 May 1996
- journal article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Vol. 93 (10), 4857-4861
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.93.10.4857
Abstract
We have found a predator-prey association between the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum and the free soil living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. C. elegans feeds on the amoebae and multiplies indefinitely when amoebae are the sole food source. In an environment created from soil, D. discoideum grows and develops, but not in the presence of C. elegans. During development, C. elegans feeds on amoebae until they aggregate and synthesize an extracellular matrix called the slime sheath. After the sheath forms, the aggregate and slug are protected. Adult nematodes ingest Dictyostelium spores, which pass through the gut of the worm without loss of structure and remain viable. Nematodes kill the amoebae but disperse the spores. The sheath that is constructed when the social amoebae aggregate and the spore coats of the individual cells may protect against this predator. Individual amoebae may also protect themselves by secreting compounds that repel nematodes.This publication has 11 references indexed in Scilit:
- Structural Roles of the Spore Coat Proteins in Dictyostelium discoideumDevelopmental Biology, 1994
- Notes on protozoa in agricultural soil with emphasis on heterotrophic flagellates and naked amoebae and their ecologyFEMS Microbiology Reviews, 1994
- Dictyostelium prespore-specific gene Dp87 encodes a sorus matrix proteinJournal of Cell Science, 1994
- Chapter 2 Cultivation and Synchronous Morphogenesis of Dictyostelium under Controlled Experimental ConditionsMethods in Cell Biology, 1987
- A defined minimal medium for axenic strains of Dictyostelium discoideumProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1977
- The role of the fibrillar component of the surface sheath in the morphogenesis of Dictyostelium discoideumDevelopmental Biology, 1977
- Chemotaxis by the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans: Identification of Attractants and Analysis of the Response by Use of MutantsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1973
- Role of the Surface Sheath in the Control of Morphogenesis in Dictyostelium discoideumNature New Biology, 1972
- Use of a fluorescent brightener to demonstrate cellulose in the cellular slime molds.1968
- THE ACRASIEAE IN NATURE. I. ISOLATION.1965