Myxomycetes

views updated

Myxomycetes (acellular slime moulds; division Myxomycota) In some mycological classifications, a class of slime moulds in which the feeding stage of the organism is a multinucleate, diploid, motile plasmodium. Under appropriate conditions the plasmodium typically forms fruiting bodies in which spores are formed. The fruiting bodies are usually visible to the naked eye and in some cases may be quite large. The organisms are widely distributed and are found on decaying wood, humus, soil, bark, dung, etc.

More From encyclopedia.com