Dictyostelium discoideum, commonly called the social amoeba or cellular slime mold, is a soil-dwelling amoeba found in forest litter and topsoil worldwide, feeding on bacteria as a solitary single-celled organism under normal conditions. When food becomes scarce, thousands of individual amoebae aggregate into a coordinated multicellular slug that can crawl toward light and heat before forming a stalked fruiting body, a striking transition between unicellular and multicellular life that has made it a widely used model organism in developmental biology and cell signaling research.
Facts
Classification
DietDetritivore or Scavenger 1 System (Realm) Relationship to PeopleEcotourism and Research 1 Scientific NameDictyostelium discoideum 1 Conservation Status Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Wikidata: Dictyostelium Discoideum
In Biome
Source Wikipedia: Dictyostelium discoideum
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Dictyostelium discoideum
Wikipedia- Wikidata Q134351 (P225 taxon name)
Lead
The simplicity of its life cycle makes D. discoideum a valuable model organism to study genetic, cellular, and biochemical processes in other organisms.
lead paragraph (habitat realm), EntityId 317650
Dictyostelium discoideum is a species of soil-dwelling amoeba belonging to the phylum Amoebozoa, infraphylum Mycetozoa.
Article text: "Its primary diet consists of bacteria, such as E"
Its primary diet consists of bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, found in the soil and decaying organic matter.
In Biome: Temperate Forest, Natural habitat and diet
Uninucleate amoebae of D. discoideum consume bacteria found in their natural habitat, which includes deciduous forest soil and decaying leaves.
View the Source 2. GBIF (IUCN Red List category): GBIF IUCN Red List category for Dictyostelium discoideum
GBIF (IUCN Red List category)GBIF taxon key 3212434, category fieldQuote, GBIF taxon key 3212434, category field
"category": "NOT_EVALUATED"
View the Source IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Wikidata: Dictyostelium Discoideum
- Wikidata Q134351, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Child Taxon Of: Amoebozoa, Wikidata parent-taxon (P171) chain
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