Life cycle of Physarum compressum
扁绒泡菌的生活史

The life history of myxomycetes is of importance for studying diversity of nutritive modes and phylogenesis of these organisms. Until now the reports concerned were few. Oat-agar culture method, moist chamber culture method and scanning electron microscopy were used to study the process of the ontogeny of Physarum compressum. The life cycle of spore-to-spore were completed in agar culture in Petri dish. The result shows that the life cycle of Physarum compressum comprises a unicellular amoeboid or swarm cell stage, a multinucleate plasmodium stage and a sporulation stage. The spore is globose and the spore surface is minutely spiny. The spore germinates by means of a cracked open and releases a single myxamoeba. The plasmodial type is of phaneroplasmodium. The mature plasmodium is milk-white, which can form many sprangia. Spores developed on agar are fertile and resemble those on natural substrate.