Myxogastria

Lore & Background

The name Myxogastria was introduced in 1970 by Lindsay Shepherd Olive to describe the family Myxogastridae, which was introduced in 1899 by Thomas Huston Macbride. Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries described numerous slime moulds as Myxogasteres in 1829. Some consider the Myxogastria a separate kingdom, with an unsettled phylogeny because of conflicting molecular and developmental data. The relations among myxogastrid orders are as yet unclear.

Reader's Guide

The following classification is based on a 2019 publication by Leontyev and coauthors, which revised the systematics of myxomycetes by integrating molecular phylogenetics with morphological traits. Myxomycetes are a class divided into two subclasses, Lucisporomycetidae and Columellomycetidae, respectively representing the bright-spored and dark-spored clades. In total, myxomycetes comprise 13 families and nine orders. Class Myxomycetes G. Winter 1880. Subclass Lucisporomycetidae Leontyev et al. 2019 (bright‑spored acellular slime moulds). Superorder Cribrarianae Leontyev 2015. Order Cribrariales Macbride 1922. Family Cribrariaceae Rostafinski 1873. Superorder Trichianae Leontyev 2015. Order Reticulariales Leontyev 2015. Family Reticulariaceae Rostafinski 1873. Order Liceales Jahn 1928. Family Liceaceae Rostafinski 1873. Order Trichiales Macbride 1922. Family Dianemataceae Macbride 1899. Family Trichiaceae Rostafinski 1826. Subclass Collumellidia Leontyev et al. 2019 (dark‑spored acellular slime moulds). Order Echinosteliopsidales Shchepin et al. Family Echinosteliopsidaceae Olive 1970. Superorder Echinostelianae Leontyev 2015. Order Echinosteliales Martin 1961. Family Echinosteliaceae Rostafinski ex Cooke 1877. Superorder Stemonitanae Leontyev 2015. Order Clastodermatales Leontyev et al. 2019. Family Clastodermataceae Alexopoulos & Brooks 1971. Order Meridermatales Leontyev 2015. Family Meridermataceae Leontyev 2015. Order Stemonitales Macbride 1922. Family Comatrichaceae Leontyev 2015. Family Stemonitidaceae Fries 1829. Order Physarales Macbride 1922. Family Didymiaceae Rostafinski ex Cooke 1877. Family Lamprodermataceae Leontyev 2015. Family Physaraceae Chevallier 1826. Some classifications place part of the orders above in the subclass Myxogastromycetidae.

Did You Know?

• All Myxogastria species pass through several very different morphologic phases, such as microscopic individual cells, slimy amorphous organisms visible with the naked eye, and conspicuously shaped fruit bodies.
• Although they are monocellular, in extreme cases they can be up to 1 m across and weigh up to 20 kg.
• The class Myxogastria is distributed worldwide, but it is more common in temperate regions where it has a higher biodiversity than in polar regions, the subtropics, or the tropics.
• According to a 2000 inquiry, there were 1012 officially accepted taxa, including 866 on species level.
• On the basis of sequenced environmental samples it is estimated that the group has between 1200 and 1500 species – more than previously estimated.