SPORE
Slime molds, like fungi, use spores to survive and spread to new
sources of food. Spores are not seeds. The hard shell of a seed contains
the very small beginning form of its plant, plus some food to help the
little plant get started. A seed is made of many cells, and a single seed
is visible to our eyes.
Most spores are single cells protected by a cell wall. Some spores are
made of several cells, but the largest spore is still smaller than the
smallest seed (made by orchids). A single spore is too small to be visible
to our eyes.
There is no microscopic slime mold inside a spore.
A spore contains all the chemicals needed to make its kind of organism.
When conditions are right, the spore starts to grow and creates a new
plasmodium, the slime mold individual.
Further Reading:
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Last
update: 12 Dec 2001. Preparation of this page by Robert Fogel
(rfogel@umich.edu) supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant
9400871.