Acrasidae

Acrasid Slime Molds
Acrasis rosea, amoebe and spores
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Excavata
Superphylum:	Discicristata
Phylum:	Percolozoa Cavalier-Smith 1991
Class:	Heterolobosea Page & Blanton 1985
Order:	Acrasida
Family:	Acrasidae

The family Acrasidae (ICZN, or Acrasiomycota, ICBN) is a family of slime molds which belongs to the protist group Percolozoa. The name acrasio- comes from the Greek Akrasia, meaning "acting against one's judgement". This group consists of cellular slime molds.

Some would also consider it as a kingdom unto itself, but the debate is as yet unsettled.

The terms "Acrasiomycota" or "Acrasiomycetes" have been used when the group was believed to be a fungus ("-mycota"). In some classifications, Dictyostelium was placed in Acrasiomycetes, an artificial group of cellular slime molds, which was characterized by the aggregation of individual amoebae into a multicellular fruiting body, making it an important factor that related the acrasids to the dictyostelids.

Reproduction

When resources such as water or food become limiting, the amoeba will release pheromones such as acrasin to aggregate amoebal cells in preparation for movement as a large (thousands of cells) grex or pseudopod. When in the grex, the amoeboids reproduce, resulting in fruit-like structures called spores, which develop into unicellular molds of the same species. .

See also

• Acrasis rosea

References

• C.J. Alexopolous, Charles W. Mims, M. Blackwell et al., Introductory Mycology, 4th ed. (John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken NJ, 2004) ISBN 0-471-52229-5