448: Myxomycete Makes Mycelial Memories

Finally found some good stories, so we're back! This episode: How
slime molds encode and use memories built into their own bodies!


Download Episode (4.6 MB, 6.7 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Aeromonas salmoncida



News item


 


Takeaways




Despite being single-celled organisms, slime molds have
fairly complex behavior, including a basic form of memory.
They often grow as a network of tubes of cytoplasm branching
out from one place to find and exploit new sources of food in
their environment. When these tubes connect to new food,
other less productive branches of its body shrink away.


 


As it turns out, this body form serves a role in memory also.
This study determined that the slime mold's tubes undergo
constant squeezing, which moves cell contents around and also
shrinks them. When tubes are connecting to a food source
though, they secrete a softening agent that allows the
pressure to expand the tubes instead of shrinking them. These
larger tubes consequently are capable of transporting more
softening agent farther away to newer food sources, so the
history of food discoveries is recorded in the slime mold's
own body, which also influences its responses to new
discoveries.



 
Journal Paper:
Kramar M, Alim K. 2021. Encoding memory in tube diameter
hierarchy of living flow network. Proc Natl Acad Sci 118.


Other interesting stories:



Bacteria-derived gene editing tool TALEN better than CRISPR
in some cases

Live microbes in oceans produce more hydrocarbons than oil
seeps introduce, priming microbes to break down oil (paper)




 


Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot
com. Thanks for listening!


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