The family Acrasidae (ICZN, or Acrasiomycota, ICBN) is a family[1] of slime molds which belongs to the excavate group Percolozoa. The name element acrasio- comes from the Greek akrasia, meaning "acting against one's judgement". This group consists of cellular slime molds.
Acrasid slime molds | |
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Acrasis rosea | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Clade: | Discoba |
Superphylum: | Discicristata |
Phylum: | Percolozoa |
Class: | Heterolobosea |
Order: | Acrasida |
Family: | Acrasidae van Tieghem 1880 ex Hartog 1906 |
Genera | |
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Synonyms | |
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The terms "Acrasiomycota" or "Acrasiomycetes" have been used when the group was classified as a fungus ("-mycota"). In some classifications, Dictyostelium was placed in Acrasiomycetes, an artificial group of cellular slime molds, which was characterized by the aggregation of individual amoebae into a multicellular fruiting body, making it an important factor that related the acrasids to the dictyostelids.[2]
When resources such as water or food become limiting, the amoeba will release pheromones such as acrasin to aggregate amoebal cells in preparation for movement as a large (thousands of cells) grex or pseudopod. When in the grex, the amoeboids reproduce, resulting in fruit-like structures called spores, which develop into unicellular molds of the same species.