Slime is known to be a fictional creature that often appears in modern video games and fantasy novels.
。。。
Misplaced the map
Hey, it's this
Slimes first appeared in the 1958 novel of the same name. Its popular image is a jelly-shaped or semi-liquid, opaque or translucent monster that can change shape, and can split or fuse, and is quite special and compelling even in the sword and magic genre of otherworldly adventure genres.
But in the real world, there is a real slime – slime mold.
Slime's definition in the Oxford Dictionary is
"Dirty mud; (unpleasant) mucus — any unpleasant thick liquid substance"
You think it's like this
It doesn't seem to be very dirty either
No, in fact, it is more inclined to this kind of
The above GIF is the real image of slime mold, and Slime is based on it.
Slime molds are a class of eukaryotes widely distributed in terrestrial ecosystems, and in the life history of slime molds, they not only have a vegetative stage similar to animals that can reptile and feed,—amoebacerodes, protoplasmic masses—but also a fungal-like reproductive stage—fruiting bodies.
Slime molds are not bacteria!!
As mentioned above, slime molds are eukaryotes, not mucus bacteria (I believe that most friends will automatically translate into slime bacteria in their brains when they first see "slime molds").
To say how strange this organism is, due to the very different structural characteristics of slime mold nutrients and breeders, scientists have quarreled over whether this organism belongs to the fungal or protozoal kingdom [2].
To make a long story short, based on the results of the analysis of slime mold DNA and RNA, it was thought to be closer to protozoa [3].
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >1 slimy protoplasmic mass
</h1>
Slime molds are bare, cell-walled, multinucleated protoplasmic masses called metamorphs during the growth or trophic phase. Its nutritional structure, movement and feeding patterns are similar to those found in protozoa.
The cytoplasm in the protoplasmic mass rhythmically reciprocates, circulates intracellular nutrients and chemical signals, and forms a prosthetic foot, so that the slime mold protoplasmic mass can navigate around and respond to the environment, and find, engulf and absorb organic matter from the surrounding environment, which is the main mechanism of slime mold feeding.
The diet of slime mold is rich and varied, ranging from organic matter such as sugars and proteins to organisms such as bacteria, algae, cyanobacteria, fungal spores and hyphae. Independent slime mold protoplasmic groups can maintain the balance of carbon and nitrogen nutrients through selective foraging, which is of great significance for soil ecological function, nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration [4].
And what has made Slime mold most famous in recent years is its "collective consciousness", and the academic point is the connection between the tendency behavior of the slime mold protoplasmic mass and the flow network vein.
In 2000, neon scientist Nakagaki et al.[5] devised an interesting experiment on slime molds, which is known as the "labyrinth experiment".
The scientists randomly cultivated slime molds in a maze, and placed some of the slime mold's favorite food, the agar block, at the beginning and end of the maze, and there are four routes of different lengths in the maze to reach the agar block.
The final experimental results shocked the scientists at the time, the slime mold would first stretch its own cytoplasm, cover the entire maze, and finally reach the agar block, once the slime bacteria found food, they would reach back to the excess part, leaving only the shortest route.
a. The slime mold structure before finding the shortest path, with the blue line indicating the shortest path between two agar blocks containing nutrients.
b. After the agar block (AG) is fixed for 4 h, the end of the slime mold shrinks and the pseudopod goes to explore all possible connections.
c. After four hours, the shortest path has been selected.
d. Path Selection: The number indicates how often each path is selected.
Scientists have found that no matter how many times the experiment is performed, slime molds will always quickly find the shortest route to complete the maze.
I believe that in terms of recognition, slime molds are already stronger than many humans with brains, such as me.
However, do you think this is the end of it?
In 2012, Reid et al.[6] found that slime molds engage in freestyle exploration of space movement if they cannot feel the entire space beforehand. During the exploration, slime marks are left on the surface of the medium and will avoid returning to places with mucus marks so that there is no going back.
D is where the mucus has been marked
The above experiments are difficult to believe that slime mold is just a simple eukaryote without a nervous system, however, there are more outrageous experiments...
In 2004, the scientists who were still neon [7] did another experiment on slime mold, and since slime mold is so powerful that it will recognize the road and find the most trouble-free and labor-saving line, then try it can restore the subway in Tokyo!
The experimental principle is very simple, using the light-avoiding properties of slime molds, simulating coastline and terrain with light spots, putting food in the corresponding locations of important subway stations near Tokyo, and seeing what slime molds will eventually grow.
The white line is the coastline, the white spots are the food spots (corresponding to the 35 stations of the Tokyo Subway), and the yellow is the slime mold protoplast
At first, the slime mold will stretch until it covers the entire map, and after a dozen hours, the slime mold will begin to optimize its own routes, the less useful lines will be retracted, and the main lines connecting the food will be continuously consolidated. After about 26 hours, a vein map similar to the height of the Tokyo Subway was formed.
So... The painstaking efforts of the designers of the Tokyo subway for decades have been restored by a kind of eukaryotes without a brain...
at? Someone cue me?
To sum up, quickly report a good school to your child, don't delay the college entrance orz
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > 2 polyspore fruiting bodies </h1>
Slime molds exist in the form of protoplasts at low densities, and when slime molds continue to grow and gather, or when food is exhausted, slime bacteria will release lectins to gather and multiply, and protoplasmic groups develop into one or more fruiting bodies with spore structures, completing the life cycle.
Slime fruiting bodies are key morphological factors in identification, and individual slime fruiting bodies are usually small, but some features are close to those of higher fungi.
Secret Fear Warning!
Secret Fear Warning!!
Secret Fear Warning !!!
Don't say I didn't warn Ha
Thanks, there was a shock
All in all, slime mold is a very interesting creature, and many people now keep slime mold as a pet.
emmmm Anyway, I can't imagine the picture of the breeding period...
It is worthy of the entertainment of the rich...
bibliography
[1] Slimes (fictional creatures)_Baidu Encyclopedia, 2020-05-21
[2] Li Yu, Li Huizhong, Wang Qi, Chen Shuanglin, 2008. Mycology of China. Slime mold volume I. Beijing:Science Press.] 1-238
[3] Baldauf S L, Doolittle WF. Origin and evolution of the slime molds (Mycetozoa) [J]. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 1997, 94:12007-12012.
[4] LI Shu,WANG Qi,LI Yu. Research progress on the characteristics of mycobacteria and their association with phylogeny[J/OL].Mycosystema:1-11[2020-08-18].https://doi.org/10.13346/j.mycosystema.200161.
[5] Nakagaki T, Yamada H, Tóth A, 2000. Maze-solving by an amoeboid organism. Nature, 407: 470
[6] Reid CR. et al. 2012. Slime mold uses an externalized spatial "memory" to navigate in complex environments. PNAS 109: 17490-17494.
[7] Tero Atsushi, Takagi Seiji, Saigusa Tetsu, et al. Rules for Biologically Inspired Adaptive Network Design. 2010, 327(5964):439-442.