Myxomycota
A myxomycete exists in nature as a plasmodium, a multinucleate blob of protoplasm up to several centimeters in diameter, without cell walls and only a cell membrane to keep everything in. It resembles a large amoeba and feeds much the same way, by engulfing its food (mostly bacteria) with pseudopodia ("false feet"), in a process called phagocytosis . Thus the slime mold ingests its food and then digests it. (In contrast, true fungi have cell walls and digest their food externally before ingesting it.) When the plasmodium runs out of food, or environmental conditions become harsh, fruiting
Pillows of the coral-colored slime mold Myxomycetes grow on damp wood.
Pillows of the coral-colored slime mold Myxomycetes grow on damp wood.
bodies form. These fruiting bodies produce dormant, resistive spores. These later germinate to form uninucleate myxamoebae or flagellated swarm cells. These later fuse and then divide mitotically to form a plasmodium, completing the life cycle. Myxomycetes are important scavengers in dark, damp parts of the ecosystem . Occasionally, during rainy periods, large plasmodia (up to a few meters in diameter) crawl out of the woods and into people's lawns and gardens. These plasmodia were the inspiration for the science fiction movie The Blob and are eaten in parts of Mexico.