Dehydration and self-cell cleaning by a single cell drives the formation of fruiting body of Lamproderma columbinum (Myxomycetes)

ABSTRACT

The noncellular complex structures of fruiting body produced by a multinucleate large plasmodium are the distinct character of Myxomycetes. Although the fruiting body distinguishes myxomycetes from other amoeboid single-cell organisms, it is unclear how such complex structures arise out of a single cell. The present study investigated the detailed process of fruiting body formation in Lamproderma columbinum, the type species of the genus Lamproderma, at the cellular level. A single cell excretes cellular waste and excess water during the formation of the fruiting body by controlling its shape, secreted materials, and organelle distribution. These excretion phenomena lead to the morphology of the mature fruiting body. The results of this study suggest that the structures of the L. columbinum fruiting body are involved not merely in spore dispersal but also in the process of dehydration and self-cell cleaning of the single cell for the next generation.

KEYWORDS:

• 3D reconstruction
• autophagy-like phenomena
• SEM
• slime molds
• TEM
• water excretions

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author thanks Hokkaido Government Kamikawa General Sub-Prefectural Bureau and the Ministry of Environment Japan Hokkaido Higashikawa Bureau for their help to get permission for the research at Mt. Asahidake. The author acknowledges Dr. Martin Schnittler from the University of Greifswald for his help with translation of the original description of the genus Lamproderma into English. The author is grateful to Drs. Hiromitsu Hagiwara and Tsuyoshi Hosoya from the National Museum of Nature and Science for their help to access invaluable literature and to Drs. Ricardo Escalante, Tsunehiko Nishikawa, Jun Matsumoto, and Kosuke Iwai for their valuable discussion. The author acknowledges the anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on the earlier and very long version of this paper and their encouragement to divide it into two papers.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was partially supported by the Sasagawa Scientific Research Grant from the Japan Science Society (20-507) and JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research C (19K06801).