Genetic heterogeneity in wild isolates of cellular slime mold social groups.
This study addresses the issues of spatial distribution, dispersal, and genetic heterogeneity in social groups of the cellular slime molds (CSMs). The CSMs are soil amoebae with an unusual life cycle that consists of alternating solitary and social phases. Because the social phase involves division of labor with what appears to be an extreme form of "altruism", the CSMs raise interesting evolutionary questions regarding the origin and maintenance of sociality. Knowledge of the genetic structure of social groups in the wild is necessary for answering these questions. We confirm that CSMs are widespread in undisturbed forest soil from South India. They are dispersed over long distances via the dung of a variety of large mammals. Consistent with this mode of dispersal, most social groups in the two species examined for detailed study, Dictyostelium giganteum and Dictyostelium purpureum, are multi-clonal.
Sathe
Santosh
S
Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. santosh_sathe@ces.iisc.ernet.in
Kaushik
Sonia
S
Lalremruata
Albert
A
Aggarwal
Ramesh K
RK
Cavender
James C
JC
Nanjundiah
Vidyanand
V
D000818:Animals; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D007194:India; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D012988:Soil Microbiology
D016054:DNA, Protozoan