Chapter 26, Problem 15
When placed at the perimeter of a maze with food in the center, the plasmodial slime mold Physarum polycephalum explores the maze, retracts branches from dead-end corridors, and then grows exclusively along the shortest path possible to the food. How does Physarum do this? One theory is that it leaves behind slime deposits—an externalized 'memory' that 'reminds' it not to retry dead ends. Develop simple experiments to test whether Physarum prefers (1) brightly lit or dark environments; (2) dry or moist conditions; (3) oats or sugar as a food source.
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When placed at the perimeter of a maze with food in the center, the plasmodial slime mold Physarum polycephalum explores the maze, retracts branches from dead-end corridors, and then grows exclusively along the shortest path possible to the food. How does Physarum do this? One theory is that it leaves behind slime deposits—an externalized 'memory' that 'reminds' it not to retry dead ends. Physarum is a plasmodial slime mold, whereas Dictyostelum is a cellular slime mold. Compare and contrast movement by the migrating slug stage of Dictyostelium to the plasmodial stage of Physarum.
When placed at the perimeter of a maze with food in the center, the plasmodial slime mold Physarum polycephalum explores the maze, retracts branches from dead-end corridors, and then grows exclusively along the shortest path possible to the food. How does Physarum do this? One theory is that it leaves behind slime deposits—an externalized 'memory' that 'reminds' it not to retry dead ends. Does an organism without a brain have the ability to use an externalized 'memory'—a spatial 'slime map' that the organism uses to avoid moving to regions where it has been before? Researchers addressed this question by placing a U-shaped trap between Physarum and its food (see diagram that follows). Twenty-three out of 24 slime molds reached the food when plain agar was used as the growth substrate. However, when the agar was coated with extracellular slime, only 8 of 24 found the food. The mean time in hours that it took the successful slime molds to reach the food when placed on plain agar or agar pre-coated with extracellular slime was compared (P=0.012). Use the P value provided to determine if the difference is significant or not. What conclusion can be drawn from the graph shown here?
When placed at the perimeter of a maze with food in the center, the plasmodial slime mold Physarum polycephalum explores the maze, retracts branches from dead-end corridors, and then grows exclusively along the shortest path possible to the food. How does Physarum do this? One theory is that it leaves behind slime deposits—an externalized 'memory' that 'reminds' it not to retry dead ends. Propose an experiment that would test whether the coating of extracellular slime changed the speed at which the slime mold moved across the substrate.
When placed at the perimeter of a maze with food in the center, the plasmodial slime mold Physarum polycephalum explores the maze, retracts branches from dead-end corridors, and then grows exclusively along the shortest path possible to the food. How does Physarum do this? One theory is that it leaves behind slime deposits—an externalized 'memory' that 'reminds' it not to retry dead ends. Researchers have proposed that slime molds could be used to help to plan the paths of future roadways and railways. Justify this statement.