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Sclerotia of the acellular (true) slime mould Fuligo septica as a model to study melanization and anabiosis

Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters volume 13, pages 130–143 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Acellular (true) slime moulds (Myxomycetes) are capable of a transition to the stage of sclerotium — a dormant form of plasmodium produced under unfavourable environmental conditions. In this study, sclerotia of Fuligo septica were analyzed by means of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The moulds were cultivated in vitro on filter paper, fed with oat flour, and kept until the plasmodia began to produce sclerotia. The obtained sclerotia differed in colour from yellow through orange to dark-brown. The EPR spectra revealed a free radical, melanin-like signal correlated with the depth of the colour; it was strongest in the dark sclerotia. Sclerotization only took place when the plasmodia were starved and very slowly dried. Only the yellow sclerotia were able to regenerate into viable plasmodia. This suggests that myxomycete cytoplasm dehydration is an active process regulated metabolically. Plasmodial sclerotization may therefore serve as a convenient model system to study the regulation of cytoplasmatic water balance, and sclerotia as a convenient material for EPR measurements, combining the quality of plasmodia with the technical simplicity of the measurements characteristic of dry spores. Darkening of the sclerotia is most probably a pathological phenomenon connected with the impairment of water balance during sclerotization.

Abbreviations

DOPA:

3,4-dihydroksyphenylalanine

DPPH:

1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl

EPR:

electron paramagnetic resonance

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, ul. Gronostajowa 7, 30-387, Kraków, Poland

    Anna Krzywda, Elżbieta Petelenz, Dominika Michalczyk & Przemysław M. Płonka

  2. Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden

    Elżbieta Petelenz

Authors
  1. Anna Krzywda
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  2. Elżbieta Petelenz
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  3. Dominika Michalczyk
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  4. Przemysław M. Płonka
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Correspondence to Przemysław M. Płonka.

Additional information

Paper authored by participants of the international conference: XXXIV Winter School of the Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology of Jagiellonian University, Zakopane, March 7–11, 2007, “The Cell and Its Environment”. Publication costs were partially covered by the organisers of this meeting.

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Krzywda, A., Petelenz, E., Michalczyk, D. et al. Sclerotia of the acellular (true) slime mould Fuligo septica as a model to study melanization and anabiosis. Cell Mol Biol Lett 13, 130–143 (2008). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11658-007-0047-5

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Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters

ISSN: 1689-1392

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