Acrasiomycota
Encyclopedia
Acrasidae is a family of slime molds which belongs to the protist group Percolozoa
Percolozoa
The Percolozoa are a group of colourless protozoa, including many that can transform between amoeboid, flagellate, and encysted stages.-Terminology and classification:...

. The name acrasio- comes from the Greek Akrasia, meaning "acting against one's judgement." This group consists of cellular slime molds.

Some would also consider it as a kingdom unto itself, but the debate is as of yet unsettled.

The term "Acrasiomycota" has been used when the group was believed to be a fungus ("-mycota").

Reproduction

When resources such as water or food become limiting, the amoeba will release pheromone
Pheromone
A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual...

s such as acrasin
Acrasin
Each species of slime mold has its own specific chemical messenger, collectively referred to as acrasins. These chemicals signal that lots of individual cells should move towards each other to form a single large cell or plasmodium...

 to aggregate amoeba
Amoeboid
Amoeboids are single-celled life-forms characterized by an irregular shape."Amoeboid" and "amœba" are often used interchangeably even by biologists, and especially refer to a creature moving by using pseudopodia. Most references to "amoebas" or "amoebae" are to amoeboids in general rather than to...

l cells in preparation for movement as a large (thousands of cells) grex
Grex (biology)
A grex is a multicellular aggregate of amoeba of the groups Acrasiomycota or Dictyosteliida that can be formed when the amoeba run out of food. It takes its form when the column formed from the aggregation of cells collapses due to its height, and becomes a slug-shaped mass...

 or pseudopod
Pseudopod
Pseudopods or pseudopodia are temporary projections of eukaryotic cells. Cells that possess this faculty are generally referred to as amoeboids. Pseudopodia extend and contract by the reversible assembly of actin subunits into microfilaments...

. When in the grex, the amoeboids reproduce sexually, resulting in fruit-like structures called spores, which develop into unicellular molds of the same species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

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