abstract book the 11 th international congress on the systematics and ecology of myxomycetes august 2023, tartu, estonia

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2 ISSN: X the 11 th international congress on the systematics and ecology of myxomycetes abstract book august 2023, tartu, estonia An International Journal of Mycetozoans Special Contribution V4A2

3 Partner organisations University of Tartu, Estonia H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagodical University, Ukraine University of Greifswald, Germany University of Costa Rica, Costa-Rica Organizing committee Iryna Yatsiuk (University of Tartu, Estonia), Prof. Dmytro Leontyev (H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagodical University, Ukraine) Dr. Anastasia Kochergina (University of Greifswald, Germany) Prof. Martin Schnittler (University of Greifswald, Germany) Prof. Urmas Kõljalg (University of Tartu, Estonia) Dr. Carlos Rojas (Engineering Research Institute, University of Costa Rica, Costa-Rica) Yatsiuk Y., Leontyev D., Kochergina A., Schnittler M., Kõljalg U., Rojas C. (eds) Abstract book. Proceedings of the 11 th International Congress on the Systematics and Ecology of Myxomycetes, August Tartu: University of Tartu, 44 p. The International Congress on the Systematics and Ecology of Myxomycetes is the largest triannual meeting of the slime mould research community. It traditionally brings together scientists, amateurs, teachers and artists from around the globe fascinated by myxomycetes. University of Tartu (publisher) Authors of abstracts (text) Organizing committee (abstract editing) Dmytro Leontyev (cover and logo design; typeset) 3

4 Lime in Physarales. Morphological aspects Renato Cainelli Associazione Micologica Bresadola-Gruppo di Muggia e del Carso, Trieste; myxocare@gmail.com Keywords: Physarales, lime, stacking tecniques In multicellular organisms, fungi, animals and plants, the morphology is determined by a precise assembly plan in which practically every detail is the result of natural selection. This close link between morphology and functionality justifies the prevalent use of morphological aspects in the taxonomy. In the case of myxomycetes, on the other hand, the morphology of the sporocarps is not determined by a precise assembly plan, but rather by the outcome of a series of coordinated processes and by the influence of environmental conditions. These processes are certainly the result of natural selection, but not all of their outcomes, often even the most obvious, must necessarily be. This has sometimes led a taxonomy based solely on morphological aspects, without the identification of the processes that had determined them, on the wrong path. This was particularly true in the case of Physarales as regards the presence of limes in the sporocarps. The extensive use of photographic stacking techniques that allows to obtain high resolution optical images can suggest hypotheses on the links between morphological aspects and formation processes and pose questions to which the literature does not seem to have given exhaustive answers. This work has focused the attention on the link between peridium and capillitium in Physaraceae, on the structure of the calcareous stipe in Physarales, with a brief mention on the cortex in the genus Fuligo. Welden AL.,1955, Capillitial development in the myxomicetes Badhamia gracilis and Didymium iridis, Mycologia 47, Bechtel, D.B., Horner, H.T. 1975, Calcium excretion and deposition during sporogenesis in Physarella oblonga calcification, Calc. Tiss. Res., 18, Wohlfarth-Bottermann, K.E.,1974. Plasmalemma invaginations as characteristic constituents of plasmodia of Physarum policephalum. Journal of Cell Science 16, Clark, J., Haskins, E.F., 2018, A taxonomic guide to the species of Didymium I. The stipitate species, Asian Journal of Mycology 1(1),

5 Quantifying the unseen: a novel qpcr approach to measure myxomycete biomass in soil substrate Johann Gangl 1, Marc Lemmens 2, Contributing authors: Anna Maria Fiore-Donno 3, Claudia Kolm 4, Johanna Kreuter 5, Gabriela Nagl-Neuhold 1, Georg Reischer 5, Myriam de Haan 6, Rudolf Krska 7 1. FFoQSI GmbH Austrian Competence Centre for Feed and Food Quality, Safety and Innovation, Technopark 1D, 3430 Tulln, Austria 2. University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Department of Agrobiotechnology, IFA- Tulln, Institute of Biotechnology in Plant Production, Austria 3. Terrestrial Ecology Group, Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany 4. Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Department Pharmacology, Physiology and Microbiology, Division Water Quality & Health, Austria 5. TU Wien, Institute of Chemical, Environmental & Bioscience Engineering, Research Are Molecular Diagnostics, IFA-Tulln, Austria 6. Meise Botanic Garden, Research Department, Nieuwelaan 38, BE-1860 Meise, Belgium 7. University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Department of Agrobiotechnology, IFA- Tulln, Institute of Bioanalytics and Agro-Metabolomics, Austria Myxomycetes are a diverse group of amoeboid protists that inhabit various terrestrial environments and have been extensively studied for their taxonomic diversity. However, despite their prevalence and abundance in soil ecosystems, there is still limited knowledge about their growth behaviour as plasmodia in soil substrate and their capability to establish themselves in soil over time. This study aims to explore the growth of four Myxomycetes species in artificial soil substrate. Our primary objectives are to determine whether plasmodia, when inoculated as sclerotia into the substrate, can develop and grow in such an environment. To achieve this, we have developed a qpcr-based approach to quantitatively measure and monitor the growth of Myxomycetes biomass over a period of at least one month. By doing so, we aim to elucidate the temporal dynamics of Myxomycetes biomass in soil. Overall, this study will shed light on the potential of Myxomycetes plasmodia to grow and establish themselves in a complex soil environment. 5

6 The Myxomycetes collection of Meise Botanic Garden Myriam de Haan 1, Ann Bogaerts 1 1 Meise Botanic Garden, Research Department, Nieuwelaan 38, BE-1860 Meise, Belgium (myriam.dehaan@botanicgardenmeise.be) Keywords: Digitization, Herbarium, Myxogastria Meise Botanic Garden (MBG) celebrated its 225 th anniversary in At the start in 1797 it was a small teaching garden located in the center of Brussels (Belgium), displaying a small collection of native and exotic plants. From then on the Garden kept expanding and became a scientific institution with a large living collection and herbarium. In 1938 it was moved to its actual location just outside Brussels in the community of Meise (Flanders). The herbarium of MBG (BR) holds 4 million collection items and in this poster we focus the myxomycete collections that count over specimens, from all over the world, including more than 300 type specimens, making this one of the bigger myxomycetes collections worldwide. In this poster we provide dry numbers like the oldest specimens are dated 1825, along with some fun facts, such as: these oldest specimens are part of the J. d Udekem herbarium who was family of Belgium s current Queen Mathilde. Although the specimens are kept with great care by our herbarium staff, they are showing signs of degradation. It is crucial that specimens are preserved and protected from further deterioration, and still keep their morphological data accessible for study, we therefore have started to re-examine the most valuable specimens (e.g. types, rare species, historically important specimens, etc.) and make a complete documentation of each that will be made available in PDF format for all on the MYXO-BE website managed by MBG. In addition, a sample will be preserved of every examined specimen for molecular analysis. MYXO-BE [Internet] Myxomycetes website, Meise Botanic Garden. Available from: 6

7 Additions to the knowledge of Myxomycetes in Maize fields Myriam de Haan 1, Polina Mironova 2, Johann Gangl 3, Marc Lemmens 3 1 Meise Botanic Garden, Research Department, Nieuwelaan 38, BE-1860 Meise, Belgium (myriam.dehaan@botanicgardenmeise.be) 2 Research Group Mycology, Department of Biology, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, BE-9000 Ghent, Belgium 3 University of Natural Resources, Vienna, Austria Keywords: Agriculture, biocontrol, corn, Dictyostelium, Myxobacteria, Myxogastria Following the studies of the potential use of myxomycetes as Biocontrol Agents on agricultural crops such as maize (Zea mays) in test fields of campus Tulln of the University of Natural Resources (Austria) (Lemmens & de Haan 2017) an extensive survey selected maize fields in Flanders (Belgium) was done in 2020 and We investigated whether there is a difference in myxomycetes species composition among different parts of the corn plant (Mironova et al. 2023). Moist chamber cultures (MCCs) were set up using different parts of the corn plant (male inflorescence, green leaf, corn cob leaf, silks, aerial leaf litter and ground leaf litter). We also explored the possible difference in species composition between samples collected from the center or the edge of the corn field. The MCCs of corn plant substrates allowed us to isolate six different species: Didymium bahiense, D. difforme, D. squamulosum, Physarum gravidum, P. cinereum and Perichaena vermicularis. During an exploratory survey, two additional species, Echinostelium minutum and Perichaena liceoides, were obtained in MCCs from ground leaf litter. Collecting in situ was done opportunistically and this yielded two species, D. bahiense and P. gravidum. Lastly, it was investigated how to isolate myxomycetes from soil samples using weak malt yeast agar (wmy) and sterilized leaf litter. No myxomycetes were isolated from the soil samples, although young plasmodia were observed, but these did not develop further. Sorocarps of Dictyostelium sphaerocephalum, a cellular slime mould (Dictyostelia), were observed in wmy agar cultures of soil samples. Lemmens, M., de Haan, M., Discovering Myxomycetes: towards applications for bio-control. Abstract book of the 9th International Congress on the Systematics and Ecology of Myxomycetes August 2017 (Ed. Hiromitsu Hagiwara), Tanabe, Japan, 88p. Mironova, P., de Haan, M., Verbeken, A., Slime moulds (Myxogastria) in maize fields. Terecia 38,

8 Myxomycetes of the Mayotte archipelago (France) Myriam de Haan 1, El-Hacène Seraoui 2, Maurice Pélissier 3, Bart Buyck 4 1 Meise Botanic Garden, Research Department, Nieuwelaan 38, BE-1860 Meise, Belgium (myriam.dehaan@botanicgardenmeise.be) 2 11, rue Louis Armand, F Ambilly, France 3 21, cami deth Cantereth, F Labassere, France 4 Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, CP 39, 57 rue Cuvier, Paris, France Keywords: Africa, islands, Indian Ocean, species inventory, Myxogastria In this poster we present new data of myxomycetes inventorization of the Mayotte archipelago, The island group of Mayotte of volcanic origin, is located in the Mozambique Channel (Indian Ocean) between the southeast of the African continent and Madagascar. More specimens, collected in the field and obtained in moist chamber cultures from the surveys held in 2010, 2011 and 2013, were added and critical specimens were reexamined. A total of 270 specimens have now been recorded, these represent 27 genera, 75 species and 7 infraspecific taxa (de Haan et al. 2023). Arcyria glauca, Cribraria cf. tecta and Hemitrichia aurea reported for the first time from Africa. Diderma rimosum, Macbrideola argentea and Physarum retisporum represent second records for Africa. Most of the collections (60%) were found on dead wood, second to this substrate is the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L) with a yield of 21% among which Diderma rimosum, Hemitrichia aurea, Physarum lakhanpalii and Physarum superbum as most note worthy recorded on this tree-like monocot. A comparison of species lists of island (groups) in the region, such as La Réunion, Madagascar, Seychelles and Mayotte (Adamonyte et al. 2011, Wrigley de Basanta et al. 2012, Kryvomaz et al. 2017, 2020, de Haan et al. IN PRESS) shows that there are only 38 taxa (17%) in common. When comparing the complete species assemblage of the islands, with the total list of Eastern Africa there are 147 taxa (42%) in common. Both suggesting a considerable level of endemism. Adamonyte, G., Stephenson, S.L., Michaud, A., Seraoui, El-H., Meyer, M., Novozhilov, Y.K., Kryvomaz, T., Myxomycete species diversity on the island of La Reunion (Indian Ocean). Nova Hedwigia 92, de Haan, M., Seraoui, El-H., Pélissier, M., Buyck, B., Premier inventaire des myxomycètes (Amoebozoa: Conosa: Eumycetozoa: Myxogastria) de Mayotte, Archipel des Comores, France. Bulletin de la Société mycologique de France 139(1-2), Kryvomaz, T., Michaud, A., Stephenson, S.L., First survey of myxomycetes on Mahé Island in the Seychelles. Nova Hedwigia 104, Kryvomaz, T., Michaud, A., Stephenson, S.L., An annotated checklist of myxomycetes from the Seychelles Islands, Indian Ocean. Karstenia, Volume 58, Wrigley de Basanta, D., Lado, C., Estrada-Torres, A., Stephenson, S.L., Biodiversity studies of myxomycetes in Madagascar. Fungal Diversity 59, Youssouf, M.S., Ergül, C.C., New records of myxomycetes from the Comoros Islands. Mycotaxon.133,

9 Diversity and persistence of nivicolous myxomycetes: Over 10 years research in a transect in the German Alps Maho Inoue 1, Jan Woyzichovski 1, Ángela López-Villalba 1, Oleg Shchepin 1, Dmitri Leontyev 2, Martin Schnittler 1 1 Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Soldmannstr. 15, DE Greifswald, Germany; maho.inoue@uni-greifswald.de 2 Department of Botany, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Valentynivska 2, Kharkiv 61168, Ukraine Keywords: nivicolous myxomycetes, long term research, ecological zonation With a high dispersal capacity via airborne spores, myxomycetes can easily reach distant new sites. However, unlimited dispersal can be a two-edged blade for local genetic adaptation, if there is free immigration from non-adapted spores. Evolution may solve this problem, called outbreeding depression, by shifting to an apomictic mode of reproduction [1], reducing dispersal capabilities [2], or developing reproductive barriers between populations, which may lead to cryptic speciation [3]. We study this problem in niviolous myxomycetes and conducted several case studies comparing geographically distant populations. However, we still know less about the genetic differentiation within a population, and the persistence of the genotypes composing it. Understanding reproductive strategies requires long-term monitoring of their population dynamics. More than 1600 specimens have been collected at our transect site in the German Alps since 2013, with more than 80% successfully barcoded for partial sequences of the 18S rdna. We found 121 ribotypes from 37 morphospecies, with one to ten ribotypes per morphospecies. The large gap between the number of morphotypes and ribotypes counted may indicate regional species differentiation. A phylogenetic tree constructed was consistent with these results, with a few exceptions. In addition to manual ribotype definition, a species delimitation algorithm (automatic barcode gap discovery [4]) was applied to the entire dataset. The algorithm yielded partitions that corresponded at a specific threshold almost exactly to the pre-determined morphotypes. Geographical coordinates confirmed that the same ribotype was collected repeatedly for a species between years, suggesting the existence of a persistent amoebal colony. On the other hand, no particular correlation between the occurrence of a ribotype/morphotype and environmental parameters was found. To find a fine-scale ecological zonation which refers to our classification, if existing at all, a multi-dimensional analysis is needed, using remotely sensed environmental data in addition to our records. 1. Janik P, Lado C, Ronikier A Range-wide Phylogeography of a Nivicolous Protist Didymium nivicola Meyl. (Myxomycetes, Amoebozoa): Striking Contrasts Between the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere. Protist, 171(6), Woyzichovski J, Shchepin O, Dagamac N. H., Schnittler M A workflow for low-cost automated image analysis of myxomycete spore numbers, size and shape. PeerJ, 9, e Shchepin O, Novozhilov Y, Woyzichovski J, Bog M, Prikhodko I, Fedorova N, Gmoshinskiy V, Borg Dahl M, Dagamac NHA, Yajima Y, Schnittler M Genetic structure of the protist Physarum albescens (Amoebozoa) revealed by multiple markers and genotyping by sequencing. Mol Ecol, 31(1), Puillandre N, Lambert A, Brouillet S, Achaz G ABGD, Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery for primary species delimitation Mol Ecol, 21(8),

10 Genetic variability of nivicolous myxomycetes in the Tatra Mountains (Carpathians) in the wide-range context of the group Paulina Janik, Jakub Fijoł, Monika Zankowicz, Anna Ronikier W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lubicz 46, Kraków, Poland Keywords: diversity, local scale, nivicolous myxomycetes, SSU, Tatra Mts. Nivicolous myxomycetes are a highly specialized ecological group of organisms associated with long-lasting snow cover. They occur disjunctly in all mountain massifs of the world where periodic snow is present. While many mountain ranges have been surveyed for myxomycetes and nearly 100 nivicolous species are described, their patterns of diversity and geographical distribution at both global and regional scales are still poorly understood. In particular, available data on genetic diversity are unevenly distributed and comprehensive surveys generally scarce. Here, we aimed to provide the first genetic diversity analysis of nivicolous myxomycetes from a poorly investigated yet biogeographically important area the Tatra mountains (Carpathians), a key Central European high-mountain site. In the course of several field trips, around 950 herbarium specimens of 29 nivicolous species from 21 field sites were collected. All specimens were morphologically determined and subjected to the amplification of partial small ribosomal subunit (SSU) regarded as a barcode marker for myxomycetes. The obtained individual haplotypes were analysed in the context of the total intraspecific diversity of a given species available in the public database (GenBank). Preliminary results showed that almost all morphological species from the Tatra Mts were represented by more than one (mainly two or three) haplotypes. Most of them were identical with genetic variants known from other geographical regions. Our study indicates that most haplotypes of various nivicolous myxomycete species are widely distributed geographically. Our analysis was based on the SSU marker only as the only marker well represented in public genetic data repositories. To further understand the complex pattern of species diversity and distribution on a global scale, there is a need to systematically extend comprehensive genetic studies to other understudied areas and to include a wider molecular diversity screening by extending the barcoding marker system. 10

11 From nerdy to trendy - a brief history of myxomycetes and citizen science in Norway Edvin W. Johannesen University of Oslo, Natural History Museum Keywords: Myxomycetes, citizen science, history, Norway The history of collecting myxomycetes in Norway dates back to Linnaeus, Blytt and Sommerfelt. By 1860, the number of species known from Norway was about 70. Nobody worked systematically with myxomycetes until Astrid Karlsen, who was trained by Gulielma Lister, revised the Oslo Herbarium specimens and also collected extensively in Western Norway in the 1930s and 1940s (Karlsen 1934, 1943). By 1943 the number of species in Norway had increased to 100. In the 1980s, Johannesen (1982) and Kalstø (1985) studied myxomycetes and through their work the number of species increased to 198. Johannesen and Vetlesen (2020) published 130 species new to Norway and the number had increased to 363 by Today more than 400 species of myxomycetes have been reported from Norway. Norway is a small country and the proportion of the approximately 1050 species described worldwide is surprisingly high, especially since so few people have been working actively with collecting and identifying myxomycetes in Norway until recently. In comparison, ca. 260 species are known from Sweden, a country where Uno Eliasson and several others have published papers on myxomycetes for many decades. Possible explanations for this difference, especially related to the interactions between taxonomists and citizen scientists and the availability of appropriate tools will be discussed. Johannesen EW, The Myxomycetes of Norway. Cand. Real. thesis. Botanical Institute, University of Oslo, 287 p. Johannesen EW, Vetlesen P, New and rare myxomycetes (Mycetozoa, Myxogastria) in Norway, including a complete checklist of Norwegian myxomycete species. Agarica 40: Kalstø AB, Myxomycetfloraen på Bjørnen og Smørås, et barskogs- og løvskogsområde i Bergensregionen. Hovedoppgave i systematisk botanikk. Universitet i Bergen. 171 p. Karlsen A, Studies on Myxomycetes. I. New records for Norway. Bergens Museums Årbok, Naturvidenskapelig Rekke 1: 1-8. Karlsen A, Studies on Myxomycetes. II. The Myxomycete flora of Hardanger. Bergens Museums Årbok, Naturvidenskapelig Rekke 4:

12 Citizen science as a key driver of myxomycete research in Latvia Julita Kluša 1, Evita Oļehnoviča 2 1 Independent researcher, Riga, Latvia; julita@dziedava.lv 2 Latvian Fund for Nature, Blaumana street 32-8, LV-1011, Riga, Latvia; evita.olehnovica@gmail.com Keywords: myxomycetes, citizen science, observations, Latvia Citizen science is well developed in Latvia, largely because of the nature observation portal dabasdati.lv, where anyone can report observations of all organism groups, including myxomycetes. Within the first ten years of the portal ( ) there had been approximately 1600 observations of myxomycetes in total, with a little more than 100 reporters. Starting from 2016 the number of myxomycete reports in dabasdati.lv has gone from several hundred to a few thousand observations of myxomycetes per year. Up to the beginning of 2023 there have been more than observations of myxomycetes registered in the portal dabasdati.lv by 200 reporters with more than 200 observed taxa in total including more than 100 new taxa in Latvia. Citizen science has not only significantly contributed to the discovery of new species but also has given an opportunity for ecology studies. A large number of observations makes it possible to see the time of growth of myxomycete species. Some of the reporters have done research in local areas and so there are lists of species for different parts of Latvia and for areas of different sizes. This is a great example of how observation data can be used in myxomycete research and there is still a lot of potential to use this data as the basis for more research in the future. 12

13 Licea pygmaea in Australia grows in straight lines. Karina J. Knight Western Australian Herbarium, Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kensington, Western Australia Keywords: Australia, Western Australia, Myxomycetes, Collaboration. Fig. 1. Distribution of Lycea pygmaea in Australia according to Continental Australia is long isolated after the breakup of Gondwana, resulting in the evolution of a unique biota. Australia s flora is diverse, with 89 bioregions and a range of climatic zones; 70% of the land mass is arid, bordered by the northern tropics and the southern Mediterranean and colder climates, and including two biodiversity hotspots. Myxomycete species are well represented in Australia with approximately one third of the known species, however many are represented by just a few records, and only 10 new species described to date. Through field collections and moist chamber harvesting, a curiosity-driven community within Australia are contributing to the myxomycete knowledge base. Outcomes of this research are somewhat ad hoc, but nonetheless very productive and laying a baseline foundation for understanding patterns in Australian myxomycete assemblages. West Australian research outcomes based on the author s holiday camping events are no less significant, leading to: increased understanding of the distribution of common species; new records for Australia; support for the general idea that a range of species are atypical and do not fit neatly into current species concepts; querying the species documented to occur in Australia; the discovery of species considered rare in the northern hemisphere commonly occur locally; the discovery of potential new species; and the description of new species, for example two unusual species recently described from arid regions in Western Australia, Clastoderma confusum and Echinostelium australiense (in press). Current research indicates there are many more discoveries to be made. However, without myxomycologists in Australia or institutional assistance, collaboration with international experts is 13

14 essential, and more importantly, sought. It s time Australian myxomycetes become part of mainstream high-level research, in particular inclusion in phylogenetic studies. There is a small but eager community in Australia awaiting to hear from you! Department of the Environment (2013), Australia s bioregions (IBRA), IBRA7, Commonwealth of Australia. [accessed 10 Aug. 2022]. GBIF Secretariat ( ), Licea pygmaea. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset [accessed via GBIF.org on 28 April 2023]. Knight, K.J. & Lado, C., Clastoderma confusum (Myxomycetes: Amoebozoa), a remarkable new species of slime mould from Western Australia. Nuytsia 31: Lado, C. ( ). An on line nomenclatural information system of Eumycetozoa. Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC. Madrid, Spain. (28 Apr. 2023). Leontyev, D.V., Schnittler, M., Stephenson, S.L., Novozhilov, Y.K & Shchepin, O.N Towards a phylogenetic classification of the myxomycetes. Phytotaxa 399(3): Lloyd, S.J., Where the slime mould creeps. 4 th ed. (Tympanocryptis Press, Tasmania, Australia). Stephenson, S.L., Secretive Slime Moulds, Myxomycetes of Australia. (ABRS: Canberra; CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne). Western Australian Herbarium ( ). Florabase the Western Australian Flora. Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. [accessed 28 Apr. 2023]. 14

15 First systematic moist chamber study of myxomycetes on the island Hiddensee (Germany) demonstrates the arid nature of the myxomycete biota at the Baltic Sea coast Anastasia Kochergina 1, Martin Schnittler 1 1 Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Soldmannstr 15, Greifswald, Germany; stacyscreations86@gmail.com Keywords: 18S rdna, Protophysarum phloiogenum, xerophilic myxomycetes Hiddensee is a small island in the Baltic Sea, located to the west of the island of Rügen. On the northeastern, hilly part of Hiddensee, the Dornbusch, a biological station of the University of Greifswald is located. During the period , we sampled coastal heathlands and shrubberies to collect substrates for a moist chamber experiment. Substrates for 103 moist chambers were collected, including leaf and branch litter of Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull, aerial litter of Sumbucus nigra L., bark of Pinus sylvestris L., Crataegus monogyna Jacq., Acer campestre L., and dung of sheep and cow. The moist chamber experiment lasted 55 days and yielded 117 collections, including several species rare in Germany, including Protophysarum phloiogenum M. Blackw. & Alexop., Perichaena luteola (Kowalski) Gilert, Trichia munda (Lister) Meyl., Bull. and Diderma hemisphaericum (Bull.) Hornem. The records of P. phloiogenum appear to be the first in Germany (Schnittler et al., 1996, 2011). We obtained a partial 18S rdna sequence for one collection, which was most similar (95.3%) with a sequence from GenBank (Walker et al., 2003), probably from North America. Physarales were the most diverse and abundant group for the studied substrates. Another peculiarity was the rapid development of fructifications: the first fruiting bodies appeared already on the 3rd day of the experiment, which is typical for myxomycete communities in arid zones (Schnittler, 2001). The climate of the Hiddensee is characterized by frequent, strong winds that may rapidly change direction, as well as sunny weather (about 1850 hours a year), with relatively modest precipitation (540 mm). Thus, the climate of the island can be characterized as rather dry, which is reflected in local myxomycete biota. In particular, the finding of P. phloiogenum, previously discovered in Mongolia, Kazakhstan, USA (Colorado and Arizona), Morocco, Russia (Astrakhan), South Australia and other arid regions, supports this supposition. Schnittler M., Krieglsteiner L., Marx H., Flatrau L., Neubert H., Nowotny W., Baumann K., Vorläufige Rote Liste der Schleimpilze (Myxomycetes) Deutschlands. In: Schr.-Reihe für Vegetationskunde 28, BfN, Bonn-Bad Godesberg: Schnittler, M Ecology of Myxomycetes from a winter-cold desert in western Kazakhstan. Mycologia 93: Schnittler M., Kummer V., Kuhnt A., Krieglsteiner L., Flatau L., Müller H., Täglich U., Rote Liste und Gesamtartenliste der Schleimpilze (Myxomycetes) Deutschlands. In: Ludwig G. and Matzke-Hajek G. (Eds.), Rote Liste gefährdeter Tiere, Pflanzen und Pilze Deutschlands, Münster, Naturschutz und Biologische Vielfalt: Walker G., Silberman J.D., Karpov S.A., Preisfeld A., Foster P., Frolov A.O., Novozhilov Y., Mitchell L.S., An ultrastructural and molecular study of Hyperamoeba dachnaya, n. sp., and its relationship to the mycetozoan slime moulds. European Journal of Protistology 39 (3),

16 Witches vomit, spittle and butter: Slime molds in Latvian folk belief Sandis Laime Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art, University of Latvia, Mūkusalas iela 3, Riga, LV-1423, Latvia; Keywords: folk belief, legends, slime molds, witch, witches vomit Throughout history, people have believed in witchcraft and witches in order to explain events or phenomena that they could not understand or control. The fear of the unknown and the need for explanation led people to blame witches and other supernatural forces for household misfortunes and productivity loss, illnesses etc. In my paper, by analyzing a corpus of about 150 Latvian beliefs and legend texts about so-called witches vomit, witches spittle, witches excrement, and witches butter I will analyze the link between these beliefs and various natural phenomena, including slime molds, and characterize the chronology, geographical distribution and other aspects of these beliefs. The beliefs about witches vomit, spittle, or excrement, as well as about witches butter, relate to the oldest layer of Latvian witchcraft beliefs which existed before the mid-16th century when the wave of witch burning reached the territory of Latvia from central Europe, along with the character of diabolic witches defined by Christian demonology. It seems that the aforementioed folk terms referred to various natural phenomena witches spittle most probably designated the froth found on plants produced by spittlebugs, while slime molds and fungi were most likely referred to as witches butter or witches vomit. Without understanding the origin of these slimy substances that could suddenly appear on wooden structures, wooden household objects, or elsewhere on the premises, it was believed that they were left behind by witches for various reasons. A wide range of magical practices have been described in folk beliefs and legends, by means of which witches vomit was destroyed it was drown, burned, buried, rubbed, poked, etc. The appearance of these inexplicable, suspicious substances also caused social tension and conflicts among neighbors, which often manifested as both verbal and physical violence. Leontyev, D.V., Schnittler, M., Stephenson, S.L., A critical revision of the Tubifera ferruginosa complex. Mycologia 107, Schnittler, M., Shchepin, O.N., Dagamac, N.H.A., Borg Dahl, M., Novozhilov, Y.K., Barcoding myxomycetes with molecular markers: challenges and opportunities. Nova HedwigiaBarcoding and metabarcoding of myxomycetes 104,

17 Should we describe cryptic species of myxomycetes? Dmytro Leontyev 1, Martin Schnittler 2, Iryna Yatsiuk 3 1 Department of Botany, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Kharkiv, Ukraine; 2 Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany; 3 Institute of Ecology & Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Vanemuise 46, EE Tartu, Estonia Keywords: biospecies, morphospecies, reproductive isolation The advances in molecular barcoding technology confronted myxomycete taxonomists with the problem of cryptic species. In virtually all case studies undertaken so far, a morphologically circumscribed species turned out to be composed of several genetic lineages, which may show subtle morphological differences (Hemitrichia serpula, Dagamac et al. 2017) or not (Trichia varia, Schnittler & Feng 2015). Analysis of two or more independently inherited molecular markers reveals that such lineages are reproductively isolated and therefore can be seen as biological species (Shchepin et al. 2022). Such closely related species do not necessarily show phenotypic differences between each other, since this requires either (1) selection pressure on visually identifiable characters, or (2) a fortunate course of gene drift, which will lead to the random accumulation of morphological traits. Therefore, phenotypic recognisability does not necessarily evolve at the same time as genetic, ecological or physiological divergences (De Queroz, 2007), which may cause disagreements between morphologically discernible and really existing species. In comparison to not-spore-forming organisms, speciation in myxomycetes may be stimulated by an additional factor. Populations accumulate special adaptations to their local habitat but migrating spores of the same species come from distant locations and bring alleles with adaptations to other conditions. This phenomenon, known as outbreeding depression, can be avoided by establishing reproductive barriers. The ability to do so may have a long evolutionary history in myxomycetes and become rather effective in their extant lineages. The question arises: should we formally describe species, if molecular data indicate the existence of several independent species, but morphological differences between them are (yet) unknown? The following arguments can be raised against this. (1) If two species cannot be distinguished morphologically, their identification is impossible within standard studies of biodiversity, ecology, and geography. Therefore, when describing cryptic species, we will give them names that are unlikely to be used by most researchers interested in biodiversity and/or ecology. This will increase the information noise, bear the risk of miscommunication and devalue the species as a taxonomic unit. Molecular barcoding of every accession will be the only way out of this dilemma. (2) Valid species descriptions include a diagnosis that provides clear phenotypic differences from other species. For cryptic species, the diagnosis can only be based on nucleotide sequences, which goes against established practices, at least in botany. (3) Molecular methods have limitations. As an example, the lack of interbreeding, which is widely used to prove reproductive isolation, may instead be caused by the geographical isolation of populations, which belong to the same species. Therefore, it is advisable to wait for a methodology that can reliably demonstrate reproductive barriers before describing cryptic species. The barcoding gap principle, which works well in some myxomycete groups, fails in others. 17

18 (4) It is unclear what to do with apomictic (asexual) lines, which may be present in myxomycetes, and sometimes have a distinct morphology, like Didymium ovoideum. They are reproductively isolated from related sexual lines, but do not form coherent reproductive groups, as biological species do. If an apomictic line becomes genetically heterogeneous, i.e. by occasional crossbreeding with sexual lineages, it can be subdivided into "species" ad infinitum (a situation we have in many apomictic groups of vascular plants). The main arguments in support of describing cryptic species run as follows. (1) Cryptic species really exist, and the task of science is to describe reality, not just a convenient fraction of it. Describing only those species that are easy to distinguish from each other is an anthropocentric simplification of reality, which cannot be accepted in science. (2) Different cryptic species may show a distinct ecology and distribution. Using the same name for all of them results in analysing the biological properties of an artificial construct. Complexes of morphologically identical or similar species cannot have a defined ecological niche, range, or phenology; they also cannot be effectively conserved. Using them as operational units will lead to wrong biological generalizations, such as the recently refuted idea of the ubiquity of sporeforming organisms. (3) With advances in science, formerly cryptic species may become morphologically discernible. In future, new sets of characters may become accessible, while already known but sophisticated methods may become more routine. (4) Biological nomenclature does not provide any other marking of species than the assignment of a Latin epithet. Indexes like a1 or gt1 are not regulated by any rules, and will differ from publication to publication. The only way to ensure unambiguous names is to formally describe new species according to the rules of nomenclature. (5) The current rapid biodiversity decline does not leave time for elaborate, time-consuming methods of traditional taxonomy. Species may become extinct faster than they can be described. (6) What can be done will be done sooner or later. We thus should not ignore the possibility of describing cryptic species but should develop algorithms and practices for this task already. The description of cryptic species has already become a routine practice in the taxonomy of algae, fungi, heterotrophic protists. In prokaryotic microbiology, description by molecular signatures is widely used not only for species but also for higher taxa, up to divisions and kingdoms, even when the organism is only identifiable through metagenomic data. For myxomycetes, the question remains open; up to date no strictly cryptic species has been described in this group. The authors invite colleagues to open a broad discussion on this topic. Dagamac N.H.A., Rojas C., Novozhilov Y.K., Moreno G.H., Schlueter R., Schnittler M Speciation in progress? A phylogeographic study among populations of Hemitrichia serpula (Myxomycetes). PLoS ONE 12:e De Queiroz, K Species Concepts and Species Delimitation. Systematic Biology 56(6): Schnittler M., Feng Y. 2015, Sex or no sex? Group I introns and independent marker genes reveal the existence of three sexual but reproductively isolated biospecies in Trichia varia (Myxomycetes). Org. Divers. Evol. 15: Shchepin O.N., Novozhilov Y.K., Woyzichovski J., Bog M., Prikhodko I., Fedorova N., Gmoshinsky V., Borg Dahl M., Dagamac N.H.A., Yajima Y., Schnittler M Cryptic speciation as a possible way to enable local adaption: Genetic structure of the prostist Physarum albescens (Amoebozoa) revealed by multiple markers and genotyping by sequencing. Molecular Ecology 31(1):

19 What is Lycogala fuscoviolaceum? Dmytro Leontyev Department of Botany, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Kharkiv, Ukraine Keywords: holotype, aethalium, pseudocapillitium, Reticulariaceae In 1968, the Danish mycologist P. Onsberg received from his student a single interesting specimen of Lycogala, collected in the highlands of Nepal. In 1972, after consulting with G.W. Martin, Onsberg described a new species, L. fuscoviolaceum (Onsberg 1972). According to the original description, the species differs from L. epidendrum in its dark-brown spore mass, a very dense peridium, and the pseudocapillitium forming vertically oriented bunches. After Onsberg's work, no one ever found L. fuscoviolaceum again. To understand what this species represents, we examined its holotype, which is still kept in Copenhagen. Thorough examination of the author's collection showed that the material does not belong to the genus Lycogala. The fruiting bodies form convex, multilayer clusters rather than flat colonies as in other species of Lycogala. The peridium has a cartilaginous texture and an alveolar structure reminiscent of Siphoptychium violaceum. The pseudocapillitium consists of stiff membranous strands resembling the columella of Siphoptychium, but as well the pseudocapillitium found in Reticularia. The structure of the peridium and pseudocapillitium indicate that the fruiting bodies of L. fuscoviolaceum are aethalia, whereas in other species of the genus Lycogala, according to recent data, they are sporocarps. The spores of L. fuscoviolaceum are rather unusual, they are thick-walled, slightly oval, and ornamented with a fine network, which has remarkably wide borders. All these characteristics indicate that L. fuscoviolaceum is either a myxomycete from the family Reticulariaceae, close to Siphoptychium or Reticularia (as indicated by the structure of the fruiting body), or it is not a myxomycete at all (what can be concluded from the unusual spore ornamentation). Molecular studies will hopefully help to determine the taxonomic affiliation of this interesting specimen. Onsberg P. Lycogala fuscoviolaceum sp. nov. and Diderma niveum from Nepal. Bot. Tidsskr. 67(1 2):

20 A Taxonomic Klondike: Lycogala epidendrum represents the largest species complex among Myxomycetes known thus far Dmytro Leontyev 1, Martin Schnittler 2 1 Department of Botany, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Kharkiv, Ukraine; 2 Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany Keywords: biospecies, new taxa, Reticulariaceae Lycogala epidendrum (L.) Fr. is one of the first protists ever discovered and the first myxomycete described by botanists. Being considered as a very familiar object, in many cases L. epidendrum was not even collected during field research. In a series of studies conducted from 2019 to 2023, we have found that the morphological species L. epidendrum represents a polyphyletic taxonomic complex. It consists of at least 76 reproductively isolated, but in many cases co-occurring clades, which we consider as biological species (these data are partially published in Leontyev et al. 2022a). Morphological differences were observed between the biospecies, detected by molecular methods, with the peridial vesicles emerging as particularly significant structures. Single crystals, starlike druses, oil droplets, granular accumulations, and pigment deposits were found inside them. The presence of these structures, as well as the shape and mutual arrangement of vesicles, allow to distinguish biospecies from one another (Leontyev et al. 2022b). In 2023, 15 new species of the genus Lycogala were formally described, for which a sufficient number of well-preserved specimens, collected from different locations, was available. Among them there are L. roseosporum with a pink spore mass and black vesicles, L. olearium with oily deposits in the vesicles, L. caviaroides, in which the vesicles resemble dried red caviar, and L. leopardium, in which the vesicles contain druses of crystals (Leontyev et al. 2023). Other species, discovered by molecular methods, but not described among these first fifteen, also possess distinctive morphological features. For instance, L. tigrinum ad int. has a striped peridium, L. umbrinum ad int. displays dark umber-pink coloration of the sporocarp, while L. rufosporum ad int. has a brick-red spore mass. To describe the entire diversity of species still hidden under the name L. epidendrum, much more collections are needed, particularly from less-explored areas such as East Asia, Africa, and South America. A thrilling question is if the limited number of morphological traits available for the group will allow to characterise unambiguously all species by an unique combination of these traits. Leontyev D.V., Buttgereit M., Kochergina A., Shchepin O., Schnittler M. 2022a. Two independent genetic markers support separation of the myxomycete Lycogala epidendrum into numerous biological species. Mycologia. 114 (6). P Leontyev D.V., Schnittler M., Ishchenko Y., Quade A., Kahlert H., Rojas Alvarado C., Stephenson S.L. 2022b. Another species complex in myxomycetes: diversity of peridial structures in Lycogala epidendrum. Nova Hedwigia, Vol. 114 (3 4), Leontyev D.V., Ishchenko Y., Schnittler M Fifteen new species from the genus Lycogala (Myxomycetes). Mycologia. 115 (accepted). 20

21 Will nivicolous myxomycetes respond to climate change? Yuliia Leshchenko Department of Ecology, Charles University, Viničná 7, , Prague, Czech republic; ; Keywords: species distribution modeling, Lamproderma, ecological niche Nivicolous myxomycetes are not a homogeneous group in their fruiting phenology (Ronikier & Ronikier, 2009) and comprise (i) strictly nivicolous species (fructify in high altitudes, mostly in alpine-subalpine regions) (ii) facultatively nivicolous species (form fruiting bodies both in mountains and on plains), and cryophilic species (occur also in autumn and during winter thaws). The ecological requirements of the last group are least known. Ecological niche modelling has not been widely used in studies of myxomycetes; there are only a few examples of the application of this methodology to certain species (Dagamac et al., 2021; Rojas et al., 2015). Using machine learning methods, I attempt to identify the ecological requirements of each subgroup. Based on the built model I made a prediction according to the projections of climate change scenarios from global climate models (GCM). As the study object Lamproderma genus was chosen as it contains representatives of all ecological subgroups that are distributed in temperate and boreal parts of Europe. I used data of 2 representative species from each subgroup as follows: L. ovoideum, L. aeneum - strictly nivicolous species; L. preudomaculatum, L. splendens - facultatively nivicolous species: L. arcyrioides, L. sauteri - cryophilous species. Among the methods, the Random Forest had the best performance and biologically meaningful models. Among the bioclimatic factors most important were Temperature Seasonality, Precipitation of the Driest Month, and Mean Temperature of the Driest Quarter, which captures the basic bioclimatic requirements mostly at the amoeba stage (amount of soil moisture, long snow cover during the winter). Under an optimistic scenario, all three groups will be able to expand to the lowlands; under the scenario of the continued growth of emissions, species can form refugees in the mountains and completely disappear from the lowlands. Dagamac, N. H. A., Bauer, B., Woyzichovski, J., Shchepin, O. N., Novozhilov, Y. K., & Schnittler, M. (2021). Where do nivicolous myxomycetes occur? Modeling the potential worldwide distribution of Physarum albescens. Fungal Ecology, 53, Rojas, C., Zúñiga, J., & Stephenson, S. (2015). Ecological niche modeling of some Costa Rican myxomycetes. Ronikier, A., & Ronikier, M. (2009). How «alpine» are nivicolous myxomycetes? A worldwide assessment of altitudinal distribution. Mycologia, 101(1),

22 The checklist of Myxomycetes in Ukraine: the next level Juliana Leshchenko 1, Iryna Yatsiuk 2, Vitaly Viunnyk 3, Dmytro Leontyev 3,4 1 Department of Ecology, Charles University, Viničná 7, , Prague, Czech Republic; leshchey@natur.cuni.cz 2 Institute of Ecology & Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Vanemuise 46, EE Tartu, Estonia; iryna.yatsiuk@ut.ee 3 Department of Botany, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Valentynivska 2, Kharkiv Ukraine; vjnnuk@gmail.com 4 Department of Botany, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Valentynivska 2, Kharkiv Ukraine; alwisiamorula@gmail.com Keywords: checklist, GBIF, Ukraine, occurrence, literature In 1834, the first confirmed discovery of myxomycetes species in Ukraine was made by the French mycologist J.H. Léveillé (Léveillé 1842). Throughout the long history of myxomycete research in Ukraine, various state systems led to scientific works being written in different languages, mainly Ukrainian, Russian, and Polish. Considerable part of these publications are only available in printed form, as a rare editions kept in a few libraries. In 2005 and 2009, efforts were made by D. Leontyev and T. Kryvomaz to improve the available data, but they primarily focused on the species list formation, with the detailed occurrences remaining unseen. A critical reassessment of the locality data on the of myxomycete finds was initiated by I. Dudka and D. Leontyev in 2015, but the project was put on hold due to I. Dudka's death in Our objective is to reconstruct the data spanning over 180 years of myxomycetes research in Ukraine and create a comprehensive checklist, which includes detailed geographic data. This checklist aims to provide valuable information for ecological studies, particularly for assessing the impact of the Russian aggression against Ukraine on the biodiversity of the country. As a source of data we used monographs, peer-reviewed journals, and conference abstracts. The taxonomic assessment was based on various nomenclature databases and expert opinions. Occurrences lacking coordinates were georeferenced using text descriptions or digitizing available maps. The datasets were subject to quality control, including data cleaning and misspelling checks. The Checklist dataset was automatically derived from the Occurrence dataset after taxonomic assessment and data cleaning. The datasets are ready to be openly published to GBIF and offer valuable insights into myxomycetes occurrences in Ukraine and contain more than 4200 evidence records of 321 accepted species. These datasets provide a foundation for ecological research and will contribute to biodiversity management efforts. This research was funded by The data mobilization grant program BioDATA Ukraine project in Léveillé J.H. (1842) Observations medicales et enumeration des plantes requeillions en Tauride. Tomo 2.Voyage dans la Russie meridionale et la Crimee, par la Hongrie, la Valachie et la Moldavie. Paris: Ernest Bourgin et Co.:

23 Tasmaniomyxa umbilicata, a new genus and new species of myxomycete from areas surrounding the Tasman Sea Sarah J. Lloyd 1, Dmytro V. Leontyev 2, Gabriel Moreno 3, Ángela López Villalba 4, Martin Schnittler Denmans Rd, Birralee 7303 Tasmania, Australia 2 Department of Botany, H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Kharkiv, Ukraine 3 Departamento de Biología Vegetal (Botánica), Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain 4 Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany Key words: Gondwana, morphology, phylogeny, sporocarp development. A new genus and species of dark-spored myxomycete, Tasmaniomyxa umbilicata ad int., will be described based on numerous observations in Tasmania and additional records from south eastern Australia and New Zealand. The new taxon is characterized by the following characters. Sporocarps are stalked; sporotheca is globose to wide ovoid, umbilicate at the base. Stalk subulate, black. Peridium single, membranous, breaking at the apex into 6 8 petaloid lobes. Columella cylindrical, opaque, with a jagged edge. Capillitium flaccid, firmly attached both to the columella and peridium. Capillitial threads white in mass, tubular, poorly branching, with occasional nodes and funnel-shaped tips. Spores irregularly verrucose. Plasmodium yellow. The new taxon is characterized by an unusual combination of characters from two families: Lamprodermataceae and Didymiaceae. With Lamprodermataceae the species shares limeless sporocarps, a shining membranous peridium, an epihypothallic stalk and a cylindrical columella. Like Didymiaceae, it has a soft, flaccid, sparsely branched capillitium, with rough tubular threads that contain fusiform nodes and are firmly connected to the peridium. Other characters of T. umbilicata that also occur in many Didymiaceae are the peridium dehiscing into petaloid lobes, the yellow, motile plasmodium, and the spores ornamented with larger grouped and smaller scattered warts. Principal Component Analysis, conducted using a feature table of dark-spored taxa, shows that T. umbilicatum occupies an isolated position between two large complexes: (1) species with limeless sporocarps and a rigid, solid capillitium and (2) species with calcareous sporocarps and a soft, tubular capillitium. The transitional position of the new taxon is also supported by a threegene phylogeny, which places T. umbilicata at the base of the branch of all lime-containing Physarales, thus justifying its description as a genus. 23

24 What is Lamproderma? A three-gene phylogeny Ángela López-Villalba 1, Martin Schnittler 1 1 Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Soldmannstraße 15, D-17489, Greifswald, Germany; angela.lopez-villalba@uni-greifswald.de Keywords: Lamprodermataceae, SSU, EF1A, COI With ca. 60 described species, the genus Lamproderma Rostaf. is one of the most diverse within Myxomycetes. It is well circumscribed by a combination of morphologic characters: stalked sporocarps (so-called sporangia), a sporotheca covered by an iridescent, membranous peridium, and threads of the capillitium ending in acute tips. Related genera can be told apart by the absence of stalk and columella (Diacheopsis Meyl.), whereas others develop waxy substances that may persist or not after sporocarps completely mature (Elaeomyxa Hagelst. and Colloderma G. Lister, respectively). Unfortunately, as it has happened with many other groups of organisms, molecular studies disproved this concept: Lamproderma is not a monophyletic genus (Fiore-Donno et al., 2012; Leontyev et al., 2019). Phylogenies include, at least, four different genera: Lamproderma, Elaeomyxa, Colloderma, and Diacheopsis. In order to disentangle the phylogeny of Lamproderma and its allied genera included in the family Lamprodermataceae, barcodes of three different molecular markers (SSU, EF1A, and COI) have been obtained. The respective phylogenies will be used to suggest a new classification within the Lamprodermataceae, and will supplement the morphological studies of the traditional genus Lamproderma, such as those performed by Moreno et al. (2002) or Ronikier (2022). First results revealed that characters like the mottled peridium are artificial, since the species do not create a monophyletic group. Similarly, the loss of the stalk in the taxa united in the genus Diacheopsis seems to be a result of multiple convergent evolution. In addition, the molecular diversity of morphologically circumscribed species varies by nearly one order of magnitude, and complexes of cryptic species are likely to occur. Fiore-Donno A.M., Kamono A., Meyer M., Schnittler M., Fukui M. & Cavalier-Smith T S rdna Phylogeny of Lamproderma and Allied Genera (Stemonitales, Myxomycetes, Amoebozoa). PLoS One. 7: e Leontyev D. V., Schnittler M., Stephenson S.L., Novozhilov Y.K. & Shchepin O.N Towards a phylogenetic classification of the Myxomycetes. Phytotaxa. 399: Moreno G., Sánchez A., Singer H., Illana C. & Castillo A A study on nivicolous Myxomycetes. The genus Lamproderma. Edizioni Candusso, Lomazzo. 66 pp. Ronikier A Revision of the Donald T. Kowalski s collections of Lamproderma (Myxomycetes, Amoebozoa) reveals twice higher species diversity. Phytotaxa. 531:

25 Molecular and behavioral ecological approaches reveal a self - non-self recognition (allorecognition) in Myxomycetes Mana Masui 1, Phillip Yamamoto 1,2, Nobuaki Kono 1,2 1 Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, Japan 2 Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Japan Keyword: splasmodium, allorecognition, behavior, Physarum rigidum, self non-self recognition It is well known that plasmodium of Myxomycetes can fuse with other individuals of the same species (Figure1a), but even among intraspecies, plasmodium is generally unable to fuse with most other individuals (Figure1b). Plasmodium is able to accurately determine whether or not an individual it encounters is a target for fusion and selects "fusion or not" behavior; this ability is a kind of allorecognition. According to previous researches, two plasmodia can fuse only if they are phenotypically identical for the loci to fuse. The recognition is not only possible by contact between cell membranes, but also by contact only with the slime sheath. However, the details of the genes and signal substances are not known. Thus, the whole view of allorecognition behavior in Myxomycetes is not well understood. To elucidate the mechanisms of allorecognition, it is important to understand the genes, signal substances, and behaviors that are involved in recognition. This study aims to solve these challenges by using molecular and behavioral ecological approaches with Physarum rigidum and Physarum roseum. To identify the genes involved in allorecognition, we will conduct spatial transcriptome analysis for plasmodium. Currently, we are preparing transcriptome and genome references for analysis. In order to identify the signal substances, we conducted behavioral tests, between different species to narrow down the screening targets. The results showed that the allorecognition behavior observed among intraspecies was not observed between interspecies (Figure1c). It suggests that the signal substances were species-specific. To understand the significance of allorecognition behavior, we conducted behavioral tests using plasmodium that were collected in a single field. As the results, complexity exists in combinations that were possible or impossible to fusion within a single field. Fig. 1. Three typical cases of allorecognition. (a) Fusion case: There are rare combinations that can be fused if they are of the same species. (b) Avoidance case: Avoid each other in most cases, even among intraspecies. (c) Ignore case: Different species of plasmodium ignore each other. 25