Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
Microb Ecol. 2010 Jul;60(1):137-48. doi: 10.1007/s00248-010-9635-4. Epub 2010 Feb 24.
This study addresses the issues of spatial distribution, dispersal, and genetic heterogeneity in social groups of the cellular slime molds (CSMs). The CSMs are soil amoebae with an unusual life cycle that consists of alternating solitary and social phases. Because the social phase involves division of labor with what appears to be an extreme form of "altruism", the CSMs raise interesting evolutionary questions regarding the origin and maintenance of sociality. Knowledge of the genetic structure of social groups in the wild is necessary for answering these questions. We confirm that CSMs are widespread in undisturbed forest soil from South India. They are dispersed over long distances via the dung of a variety of large mammals. Consistent with this mode of dispersal, most social groups in the two species examined for detailed study, Dictyostelium giganteum and Dictyostelium purpureum, are multi-clonal.
本研究探讨了细胞黏菌（CSM）社会群体的空间分布、扩散和遗传异质性问题。CSM 是土壤变形虫，具有不寻常的生命周期，包括交替的独居和社会阶段。由于社会阶段涉及到分工，表现出一种极端形式的“利他主义”，因此 CSM 提出了有关社会性起源和维持的有趣进化问题。了解野生社会群体的遗传结构对于回答这些问题是必要的。我们证实 CSM 在印度南部未受干扰的森林土壤中广泛存在。它们通过各种大型哺乳动物的粪便进行长距离扩散。与这种扩散模式一致，在对两种详细研究的物种（Dictyostelium giganteum 和 Dictyostelium purpureum）中的大多数社会群体都是多克隆的。
