Editing Slime mold (section)

=== Use in research and teaching ===

The practical study of slime molds was facilitated by the introduction of the "moist culture chamber" by H. C. Gilbert and [[George Willard Martin|G. W. Martin]] in 1933.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gilbert |first1=H. C. |last2=Martin |first2=G. W. |author2-link=George Willard Martin |year=1933 |title=Myxomycetes found on the bark of living trees |journal=University of Iowa Studies in Natural History |volume=15 |pages=3–8}}</ref> Slime molds can be used to teach [[convergent evolution]], as the habit of forming a stalk with a sporangium that can release spores into the air, off the ground, has evolved repeatedly, such as in myxogastria (eukaryotes) and in myxobacteria ([[prokaryote]]s).<ref name="Keller Everhart 2010">{{cite journal |last1=Keller |first1=Harold W. |last2=Everhart |first2=Sydney |title=Importance of Myxomycetes in Biological Research and Teaching |journal=Fungi |date=2010 |volume=3 |issue=1 (Winter 2010)}}</ref> Further, both the (macroscopic) dictyostelids and the (microscopic) protostelids have a phase with motile amoebae and a phase with a stalk; in the protostelids, the stalk is tiny, supporting just one spore, but the logic of airborne spore dispersal is the same.<ref name="Keller Everhart 2010"/>

[[O'Neil Ray Collins|O. R. Collins]] showed that the slime mold ''[[Didymium (slime mold)|Didymium iridis]]'' had two strains (+ and −) of cells<!-- (heterothallism)-->, equivalent to gametes, that these could form [[immortalised cell line|immortal cell lines]] in [[microbiological culture|culture]], and that the system was controlled by [[allele]]s of a single gene. This made the species a [[model organism]] for exploring incompatibility, asexual reproduction, and mating types.<ref name="Keller Everhart 2010"/>