Editing Slime mold (section)

=== Macroscopic, plasmodial slime molds: Myxogastria ===

{{main|Myxogastria}}

The Myxogastria or [[Plasmodium (slime mold)|plasmodial]] slime molds are the only [[macroscopic scale]] slime molds; they gave the group its informal name, since for part of their life cycle they are slimy to the touch.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPBeCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 |title=Advances in Physarum Machines: Sensing and Computing with Slime Mould |last=Adamatzky |first=Andrew |date=2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-26662-6 |page=4}}</ref> A myxogastrian consists of a large cell with [[heterokaryosis|thousands of nuclei]] within a single membrane without walls, forming a [[syncytium]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Ples |first=Marek |date=2023-11-11 |title=Lab Snapshots by Marek Ples; Microbiology - The biology on a different level |url=https://weirdscience.eu/Mikrobio/?id=0/#sm |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=weirdscience.eu}}</ref> Most are smaller than a few centimeters, but some species may reach sizes up to several square meters, and in the case of ''[[Brefeldia maxima]]'', a mass of up to {{convert|20|kg|lb}}.<ref name="Ing 1999">{{cite book |last=Ing |first=B. |title=The myxomycetes of Britain and Ireland: an identification handbook |publisher=Richmond Publishing |location=Slough, England |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-85546-251-2 |pages=4, 9}}</ref><ref name="Nannenga-Bremekamp 1974">{{Cite book |last=Nannenga-Bremekamp |first=N.E. |title=De Nederlandse Myxomyceten |publisher=Koninklijke Nederlandse Natuurhistorische Vereniging |year=1974 |isbn=978-90-03-93130-6 |location=Zuthpen}}</ref><ref name="Zhulidov Robarts 2002">{{cite journal |last1=Zhulidov |first1=Daniel A. |last2=Robarts |first2=Richard D. |last3=Zhulidov |first3=Alexander V. |last4=Zhulidova |first4=Olga V. |last5=Markelov |first5=Danila A. |last6=Rusanov |first6=Viktor A. |last7=Headley |first7=John V. |title=Zinc accumulation by the slime mold ''Fuligo septica'' (L.) Wiggers in the former Soviet Union and North Korea |journal=Journal of Environmental Quality |year=2002 |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=1038–1042 |pmid=12026071 |doi=10.2134/jeq2002.1038 |bibcode=2002JEnvQ..31.1038Z }}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=175px heights=175px>
File:Stemonitis sp. (Slime Mould) with Ant.jpg |''[[Stemonitis]]'' shows stalked sporangia for airborne spore dispersal.
File:Diachea leucopodia (Bull.) Rostaf 1014107 (cropped).jpg |''[[Diachea leucopodia]]''
File:Fuligo septica bl1.JPG |''[[Fuligo septica]]'' cells aggregate to form a soft mass.
File:Schleimpilz Urwald Sababurg.jpg |''[[Trichia varia]]''
File:Enteridium lycoperdon, (Bull.) M.L. Farr, 1976 (Reticularia lycoperdon) (cropped).JPG |''[[Enteridium lycoperdon]]'' sporangium. Spores can disperse in air or water, or by slime mold flies.<ref name="Stephenson 2000"/>
File:Metatrichia vesparium 82442.jpg|''[[Metatrichia (protist)|Metatrichia vesparium]]'' has small round sporangia that have spiral [[elater]]s to eject their lids and disperse their spores.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Krivomaz |first1=Т. І. |last2=Michaud |first2=A. |last3=Minter |first3=D. W. |title=Metatrichia vesparium |year=2012 |url=https://repositary.knuba.edu.ua/bitstream/987654321/7644/1/1916.pdf}}</ref>
File:EumycetozoaWoblitz02.jpg|''[[Mucilago crustacea]]'' aggregating from a streaming [[Plasmodium (life cycle)|plasmodium]] (network of filaments) to a [[sporangium]] (large mass)
</gallery>