-
Scientific Reports Nov 2022This study presents the Slime Mold Algorithm (SMA) to solve the time-cost-quality trade-off problem in a construction project. The proposed SMA is a flexible and...
This study presents the Slime Mold Algorithm (SMA) to solve the time-cost-quality trade-off problem in a construction project. The proposed SMA is a flexible and efficient algorithm in exploration and exploitation to reach the best optimal solution to process the input model's data. This paper aims to discuss and solve the optimization problem and compare the evaluation with other algorithms such as Opposition-based Multiple Objective Differential Evolution, Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm, Multiple objective particle swarm optimization, Multiple objective differential evolution and Chaotic initialized multiple objective differential evolution (CAMODE) to verify the efficiency and potential of the proposed algorithm. According to the analysis results, the SMA model generated a diversification measure for case studies, producing superior outcomes to those of previous algorithms.
Topics: Artificial Intelligence; Problem Solving; Algorithms; Physarum polycephalum; Cell Movement
PubMed: 36418454
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24668-7 -
Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences Jan 2021The search for novel biologically active molecules has extended to the screening of organisms associated with less explored environments. In this sense, Oceans, which... (Review)
Review
The search for novel biologically active molecules has extended to the screening of organisms associated with less explored environments. In this sense, Oceans, which cover nearly the 67% of the globe, are interesting ecosystems characterized by a high biodiversity that is worth being explored. As such, marine microorganisms are highly interesting as promising sources of new bioactive compounds of potential value to humans. Some of these microorganisms are able to survive in extreme marine environments and, as a result, they produce complex molecules with unique biological interesting properties for a wide variety of industrial and biotechnological applications. Thus, different marine microorganisms (fungi, myxomycetes, bacteria, and microalgae) producing compounds with antioxidant, antibacterial, apoptotic, antitumoral and antiviral activities have been already isolated. This review compiles and discusses the discovery of bioactive molecules from marine microorganisms reported from 2018 onwards. Moreover, it highlights the huge potential of marine microorganisms for obtaining highly valuable bioactive compounds.
PubMed: 33424301
DOI: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.09.052 -
ELife Jan 2022What is the origin of behaviour? Although typically associated with a nervous system, simple organisms also show complex behaviours. Among them, the slime mold , a giant...
What is the origin of behaviour? Although typically associated with a nervous system, simple organisms also show complex behaviours. Among them, the slime mold , a giant single cell, is ideally suited to study emergence of behaviour. Here, we show how locomotion and morphological adaptation behaviour emerge from self-organized patterns of rhythmic contractions of the actomyosin lining of the tubes making up the network-shaped organism. We quantify the spatio-temporal contraction dynamics by decomposing experimentally recorded contraction patterns into spatial contraction modes. Notably, we find a continuous spectrum of modes, as opposed to a few dominant modes. Our data suggests that the continuous spectrum of modes allows for dynamic transitions between a plethora of specific behaviours with transitions marked by highly irregular contraction states. By mapping specific behaviours to states of active contractions, we provide the basis to understand behaviour's complexity as a function of biomechanical dynamics.
Topics: Actomyosin; Biomechanical Phenomena; Cell Physiological Phenomena; Locomotion; Physarum polycephalum
PubMed: 35060901
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.62863 -
Theory in Biosciences = Theorie in Den... Sep 2022Fifty years ago, the enigmatic Brazilian myxomycete-species Didymium aquatile was described and analyzed with respect to the structure of the plasmodium and its spores....
Fifty years ago, the enigmatic Brazilian myxomycete-species Didymium aquatile was described and analyzed with respect to the structure of the plasmodium and its spores. In this study, we compare this rare plasmodial slime mold with another, temporarily aquatic taxon from Europe, Didymium nigripes. Phenotypic plasticity of D. nigripes was investigated under various environmental conditions. Large changes in the morphology of the plasmodia were observed. For species identification, characteristics of the fruiting bodies are key features. However, Didymium aquatile was only characterized by its "abnormal" plasmodia, but no molecular data were available. Here, we analyzed DNA-sequences of 22 species of the genera Didymium and Diderma with a focus on this South American taxon via molecular genetics. A comparison of 18S-rDNA-sequences from D. aquatile and 21 other Didymium (and Diderma)-species indicates that D. aquatile is a reproductively isolated morpho-species. Phenotypic plasticity of D. nigripes is documented with respect to plasmodium morphology and the formation of fruiting bodies, as an example of an adaptation of a terrestrial species to aquatic environments.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Myxomycetes; Phylogeny
PubMed: 36029433
DOI: 10.1007/s12064-022-00375-9 -
Morphological stasis in the first myxomycete from the Mesozoic, and the likely role of cryptobiosis.Scientific Reports Dec 2019Myxomycetes constitute a group within the Amoebozoa well known for their motile plasmodia and morphologically complex fruiting bodies. One obstacle hindering studies of...
Myxomycetes constitute a group within the Amoebozoa well known for their motile plasmodia and morphologically complex fruiting bodies. One obstacle hindering studies of myxomycete evolution is that their fossils are exceedingly rare, so evolutionary analyses of this supposedly ancient lineage of amoebozoans are restricted to extant taxa. Molecular data have significantly advanced myxomycete systematics, but the evolutionary history of individual lineages and their ecological adaptations remain unknown. Here, we report exquisitely preserved myxomycete sporocarps in amber from Myanmar, ca. 100 million years old, one of the few fossil myxomycetes, and the only definitive Mesozoic one. Six densely-arranged stalked sporocarps were engulfed in tree resin while young, with almost the entire spore mass still inside the sporotheca. All morphological features are indistinguishable from those of the modern, cosmopolitan genus Stemonitis, demonstrating that sporocarp morphology has been static since at least the mid-Cretaceous. The ability of myxomycetes to develop into dormant stages, which can last years, may account for the phenotypic stasis between living Stemonitis species and this fossil one, similar to the situation found in other organisms that have cryptobiosis. We also interpret Stemonitis morphological stasis as evidence of strong environmental selection favouring the maintenance of adaptations that promote wind dispersal.
Topics: Biological Evolution; Fossils; Myxomycetes; Phylogeny
PubMed: 31874965
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-55622-9 -
PeerJ 2024A new myxomycete species, , was described based on morphological evidence and phylogenetic analyses. The species was discovered in the arid region at the confluence of...
A new myxomycete species, , was described based on morphological evidence and phylogenetic analyses. The species was discovered in the arid region at the confluence of the Badain Jaran desert and Tengger desert on the leaves of and was cultivated in a moist chamber culture. Morphologically, the species is distinguished by the greenish-yellow calcium carbonate crystals on the surface and the spores covered with small warts, some of which are connected into a short line. A phylogenetic analysis of strongly supports its classification as a separate clade. The spore to spore agar culture of . requires 23 days, and this study provides a detailed description of its life cycle.
Topics: Myxomycetes; Phylogeny; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Desert Climate; Spores, Protozoan; Physarida
PubMed: 38213774
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16725 -
Nucleic Acids Research Mar 2022DNA replication occurring in S-phase is critical for the maintenance of the cell fate from one generation to the next, and requires the duplication of epigenetic...
DNA replication occurring in S-phase is critical for the maintenance of the cell fate from one generation to the next, and requires the duplication of epigenetic information. The integrity of the epigenome is, in part, insured by the recycling of parental histones and de novo deposition of newly synthesized histones. While the histone variants have revealed important functions in epigenetic regulations, the deposition in chromatin during S-phase of newly synthesized histone variants remains unclear. The identification of histone variants of H3 and unique features of Physarum polycephalum provides a powerful system for investigating de novo deposition of newly synthesized histones by tracking the incorporation of exogenous histones within cells. The analyses revealed that the rate of deposition of H3.1 and H3.3 is anticorrelated as S-phase progresses, H3.3 is predominately produced and utilized in early S and dropped throughout S-phase, while H3.1 behaved in the opposite way. Disturbing the expression of H3 variants by siRNAs revealed mutual compensation of histone transcripts. Interestingly, the incorporation of pre-formed constrained histone complexes showed that tetramers of H3/H4 are more efficiently utilized by the cell than dimers. These results support the model whereby the histone variant distribution is established upon replication and new histone deposition.
Topics: Cell Cycle; Chromatin; DNA Replication; Histones; Nucleosomes; Physarum polycephalum
PubMed: 35137186
DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac060 -
PloS One 2019The onset of self-organized motion is studied in a poroelastic two-phase model with free boundaries for Physarum microplasmodia (MP). In the model, an active gel phase...
The onset of self-organized motion is studied in a poroelastic two-phase model with free boundaries for Physarum microplasmodia (MP). In the model, an active gel phase is assumed to be interpenetrated by a passive fluid phase on small length scales. A feedback loop between calcium kinetics, mechanical deformations, and induced fluid flow gives rise to pattern formation and the establishment of an axis of polarity. Altogether, we find that the calcium kinetics that breaks the conservation of the total calcium concentration in the model and a nonlinear friction between MP and substrate are both necessary ingredients to obtain an oscillatory movement with net motion of the MP. By numerical simulations in one spatial dimension, we find two different types of oscillations with net motion as well as modes with time-periodic or irregular switching of the axis of polarity. The more frequent type of net motion is characterized by mechano-chemical waves traveling from the front towards the rear. The second type is characterized by mechano-chemical waves that appear alternating from the front and the back. While both types exhibit oscillatory forward and backward movement with net motion in each cycle, the trajectory and gel flow pattern of the second type are also similar to recent experimental measurements of peristaltic MP motion. We found moving MPs in extended regions of experimentally accessible parameters, such as length, period and substrate friction strength. Simulations of the model show that the net speed increases with the length, provided that MPs are longer than a critical length of ≈ 120 μm. Both predictions are in line with recent experimental observations.
Topics: Elasticity; Friction; Kinetics; Models, Biological; Movement; Nonlinear Dynamics; Physarum; Viscosity
PubMed: 31398215
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217447 -
Anais Da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias 2024The family Physaraceae (Physarales, Myxomycetes) is represented in Brazil by eight genera and 75 species. Based on data obtained from the GBIF, SpeciesLink, Flora and...
The family Physaraceae (Physarales, Myxomycetes) is represented in Brazil by eight genera and 75 species. Based on data obtained from the GBIF, SpeciesLink, Flora and Funga do Brasil platforms, collections from the IPA and URM Herbaria and material collected since 1960 deposited in the UFP Herbarium, the microhabitats and distribution of Badhamiopsis (1sp.) and Badhamia (10 spp.) in Brazilian biomes are commented. An identification key for the species and the first report of B. melanospora from the state of Paraíba, B. panicea from the state of Paraná and B. ovispora from Brazil are presented.
Topics: Myxomycetes; Brazil; Ecosystem
PubMed: 38451623
DOI: 10.1590/0001-3765202420220698 -
PeerJ 2021Although myxomycetes are ubiquitous in terrestrial ecosystems, studies on their distribution and diversity in subtropical humid forests are still lacking. Field...
Although myxomycetes are ubiquitous in terrestrial ecosystems, studies on their distribution and diversity in subtropical humid forests are still lacking. Field collections and moist chamber cultures were conducted from May to October within a two-year period in the Tiantangzhai National Forest Park of China. A total of 1,492 records representing 73 species belonging to 26 genera were obtained, of which 243 records/37 species were from field collections, and 1,249 records/52 species were from moist chamber cultures. Among the specimens obtained by culturing, 896 records/38 species and 353 records/37 species were obtained from living bark and ground litter, respectively. ANOVA showed that the sampling months had significant impacts on collection of myxomycetes from field and those that inhabit litter. An LEfSe analysis indicated that was significantly abundant in August, while and were more abundant in July when collected from field. An RDA analysis showed that temperature was the main factor that affected the litter-inhabiting myxomycetes. The ANOVA indicated that forest type was the significant factor for bark-inhabiting myxomycetes. was primarily obtained from mixed forests, while and were more common in coniferous forests. The RDA analysis indicated that the vegetation, pH, water retention, and elevation were the primary factors that affected the bark-inhabiting myxomycetes.
PubMed: 34527444
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12059