What are the main characteristics of slime molds and water molds?

Slime molds are fungus-like protists that grow as slimy masses on decaying matter. They are commonly found on items such as rotting logs. Water molds are fungus-like protists present in moist soil and surface water; they live as parasites or on decaying organisms.

What characteristics suggest that slime molds are protists?

Slime Molds are single-celled organisms that belong to the kingdom Protista (Protist). They feed on microorganisms. Slime molds live as single-cell organisms or aggregate together to form multicellular organisms. Protists and slime molds are polyphyletic.

How do you classify slime molds?

Slime molds are classified in the Kingdom Protista (the Protists), despite many years of having been classified as fungi, in the class Myxomycetes.

What are the characteristics of Plasmodial slime molds?

Plasmodial slime molds are composed of large, multinucleate cells and move along surfaces like an amorphous blob of slime during their feeding stage. The slime mold glides along, lifting and engulfing food particles, especially bacteria.

What defines a slime mold?

Definition of slime mold

: any of a group (such as Myxomycetes) of organisms formerly held to be lower fungi but now often considered protists that exist vegetatively in usually moist habitats as mobile plasmodia and reproduce by spores.

What is true of all slime molds?

Slime mold is not a plant or animal. It’s not a fungus, though it sometimes resembles one. Slime mold, in fact, is a soil-dwelling amoeba, a brainless, single-celled organism, often containing multiple nuclei.

Are slime molds unicellular or multicellular?

unicellular organism
The so-called cellular slime mold, a unicellular organism that may transition into a multicellular organism under stress, has just been found to have a tissue structure that was previously thought to exist only in more sophisticated animals.

Does slime mold have cells?

In other words, a protist is any eukaryotic organism that is not an animal, plant, or fungus. There are two types of slime mold: cellular and acellular (plasmodial). During the life cycle of cellular slime molds, they remain as single cells.

What is the difference between mold and slime mold?

The key difference between slime molds and fungi is their cell wall composition. Slime molds have a cell wall composed of cellulose while fungi have a cell wall composed of chitin. Slime molds belong to the Kingdom Protista, and they are also called fungus-like protista.

Why are slime molds classified as protists?

Slime molds are classified under the Kingdom Protista because, like other protists, they really don’t fit in with other kingdoms! They are motile like animals but some are unicellular so they can not be classified as animals.

Why are slime molds protists and not fungi?

These protists differ from fungi in that their cell walls have cellulose rather than chitin. Fungus-like protists also generally do not have divisions between their cells like fungi do. Slime molds have both animal and plant like characteristics although they themselves are not closely related to each other.

Which of the following is a characteristic of all protists?

Outline the characteristics of Kingdom Protista.

All protists are eukaryotic organisms. This means that they have a membrane-enclosed nucleus and other cell organelles. Most protists are aquatic, others are found in moist and damp environments.

What distinguishes slime mold from fungi?

The key difference between slime molds and fungi is their cell wall composition. Slime molds have a cell wall composed of cellulose while fungi have a cell wall composed of chitin. Slime molds belong to the Kingdom Protista, and they are also called fungus-like protista.

Is slime mold unicellular or multicellular?

The so-called cellular slime mold, a unicellular organism that may transition into a multicellular organism under stress, has just been found to have a tissue structure that was previously thought to exist only in more sophisticated animals.