Studies On Taxonomy Of Dictyostelid Cellular Slime Molds In The Southwest Of China

Dictyostelid cellular slime molds are an unusual group which have small sporocarps, transitory lives and hardly to observe them by naked eyes. They are primarily living in the soil, dead leaf and animal dung where they feed primarily on bacteria. They can change the bacterial colony of soil and became one of the most important member of the forest ecosystems because of their special feeding way. In addition, they are also a kind of ideal objects suitable for genetics, cytology and molecular biology, because they were easily cultured in lab and their simple life cycles.There are more than100dictyostelid species were published since Oskar Brefeld described the first dictyostelid species Dictyostelium mucoroides in1869. However, the researches of dictyostelids in China were still at the initial stage. Until now,53dictyostelid species were reported in China, including43species of Dictyostelium (including20new species, lnew variety,7species were only reported in Taiwan province),9species of Polysphondylium (including1new species,2species were only reported in Taiwan province), and1species of Acytostelium (this species was only reported in Taiwan province).Dictyostelids are important for research. We need to put more attention on it and spend much more time researching their biological phenomena and life cycles. This study was supported by NSFC(Natural Science Foundation of China). Our targets are that to know the distribution about dictyostelid in the southwest of China and compare the differences between similar species and the dictyostelids between the northeast of China and the southwest of China. Each sample which was collected from the southwest of China was disposed by isolated, cultured and verificated which based on traditional morphology methods. Detailed descriptions and discussions and photographs of important stages in life cycles were given to each species.In this study, totally20species in2genus were isolated from208soil and leaf samples collected from the southwest of China(including Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou et al) including1undetermined species,2new records of Dictyostelium from China, Dictyostelium implicatum and Dictyostelium crassicaule;2new records of Dictyostelium from mainland China, Dictyostelium magnum and Dictyostelium macrocephalum.14new records of Dictyostelium from provinces, they are Dictyostelium purpureum, Dictyostelium gragarium, Dictyostelium gloeosporum, Dictyostelium giganteum, Dicyostelium multi-stipes, Dictyostelium arabicum, Dictyostelium polycephalum, Dictyostelium brefeldianum, Dictyosteium mucoroides, Dictyostelium discoideum, Dictyostelium longosporum, Dictyostelium gracile, Polysphondylium violaceum, Polysphondylium anisocaule.