title: Collection and cultivation of dictyostelids from the wild.
abstract: Dictyostelium discoideum is a commonly used model organism for the study of biological processes such as chemotaxis, cell communication, and development. While these studies primarily focus on a single clone, recent work has revealed a host of questions that can only be answered from studies of multiple genetically distinct clones. Understanding intraspecific clone conflict, kin recognition, differential adhesion, and other kinds of interactions likely to occur in the natural soil habitat can only come from studies of multiple clones. Studies of populations of wild isolates are also important for understanding the factors contributing to associations such as species co-occurrences and to observed inter- and intraspecific interactions such as those found between bacteria and D. discoideum. Natural isolates of Dictyostelium are easily found in soil and leaf litter in nearly all habitats. Here we describe a simple and successful method for isolating new wild clones from soil, then isolating single clonal strains, and storing them for future use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Tracy E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Douglas
authors.forename: Debra A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Brock
authors.forename: Boahemaa
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Adu-Oppong
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Queller
authors.forename: Joan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Strassmann
mesh_terms: D003470:Culture Media; D046508:Culture Techniques; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D021902:Enterobacter aerogenes; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D033761:Spores, Protozoan / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media