Slime Molds

NeedBioInfo

I mean could something with CELL walls and the genes of the slime mold do that or could only things WITHOUT cell walls do that?

iansmith

Part of that explaination is "pseudo"science. Single cells communicated with chemical signals. When these signals are sense by a population, this trigger the production of certains proteins that is required to go from a single cells state to a community state and then to a forming fruit bodies.

In bacteria it is called qorum sensing but I don't know if this term applies to communal slime molds.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...458&query_hl=9
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...83&query_hl=11

Not all slime molds can form a giant cell which multinucleate. Only the Plasmodial slime molds can. Also, animal cells do not have cell wall, usually plant and fungi have cell wall.

So, some species of slime molds will be connected by a matrix whereas the plasmodial slime molds will fused their cells together to form a giant cell. The lack of cell wall probably allows the plasmodial slime molds to form a giant cells. Cell wall usually insure a certain cell shape integrity.

LeonhardEuler

I would think it is unlikely that you could get multicellular organisms to link together with slime mold genes. Slime molds not only must produce protiens that join them to each other, but also protiens that identify other slime molds as slime molds so that they don't try to link to other particles, and they must also have structures in thier cellular membranes to support this linkage. Also, these linkage protiens must reach the cell membrane. The mechanisms that recognize slime mold linkage protiens as cellular membrane protiens may not be the same in other organisms. Given this complexity, it seems like it is a much more difficult proposition to have multicellular organisms linking up with sime mold genes than to do something like make a tomatoe produce a phosphorescent chemical or have bacteria produce insulin. This said, it may not be absolutely impossible, just too complex to be accomplished today. By the way, not all multicellular organisms have cell walls. Animal cells do not have cell walls.

NeedBioInfo

Thanks for replying. Could you sort of explain in layman's terms (Like in as simple/easily understandable a way as possible)) how it would be possible/what ways it would be possible (Hypothetically or in actuality) (Despite things like financial cost, etc) to see if it would be possible to make an organ (Eg a heart or something) in a multi-cellular organism (Like a cat) connect up to another organ (Eg the same one) with the genes of the slime mold? (Or the genes of something else that could be used for the same purpose)

(So basically I wanted to know about one organ in a multi-cellular organism connecting up to another organ in a multi-cellular organism instead of for example the organisms as a whole themselves connecting up to each other)

I mean, because it would be possible to do hypothetically right?
Thanks for your replies!

LeonhardEuler

You would have to get the slime mold gene into the right part of the genome so that it is only expressed in the cells outside the organ in question. Hypothetically this should be possible since certain regions in the genome are turned on and off in different cells, so if you put this gene in a postion which is only transcribed by thse cells there shouldn't be a problem. Now, where things start getting really complicated is when you start talking about ensuring that the connecting protiens are sent to the cellular membrane. I don't know how this could be accomplished, and it sounds pretty difficult. This might require more knowlege of the cellular mechanisms that control protien packing than is currently known. However, I don't rule out the possibility that somebody somewhere in the world knows how to do it. It seems unlikely , though.

NeedBioInfo

Could anyone tell me (In regards to the above comment) if that would require more knowlege of the cellular mechanisms that control protien packing than is currently known, and how I could find that out?

thanks