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Abstract
Samples of the slime mold Fuligo septica (L.) Wiggers were collected from an ecologically diverse selection of sites across the former USSR and in North Korea to determine their Zn concentrations. Plasmodia were collected from trees, rocks, soils, the walls of buildings and a variety of other materials and structures from 1990 to 1996. The biomass collected ranged from 305 to 968 mg, whereas Zn concentrations in plasmodia of F. septica ranged from 8400 to 23 000 mg kg^sup -1^ dry wt. (mean and standard error = 14 200 +/- 860 mg kg^sup -1^ dry wt.). No clear trend as to which areas produced F. septica with the highest Zn concentrations was discernable. Nor was it possible to identify any particular substrate on which F. septica grew that produced noticeably high Zn concentrations. For example, forest litter on which F. septica was found had Zn concentrations of only 25 to 130 mg kg^sup -1^ dry wt. Our data confirm the only other study showing hyperaccumulation of Zn in F. septica, which was carried out in Finland. This ability seems to be unique to this species, but how or why it does this, or why such high Zn concentrations are not toxic to F. septica, are questions requiring future research.
Abbreviations: GFAAS, graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrophotometry.
SLIME MOLDS, OR Myxomycetes, are fungus-like eukaryotes that are little studied. The plasmodia of Myxomycetes mainly obtain nutrients by ingesting food particles such as bacteria, yeast cells, amoebae, flagellates, fungal mycelia, as well as algae and detritus (Gray and Alexopoulos, 1968). They may also feed in nature by absorbing dissolved substances, since they can be grown on nutrient media, although this is still questionable (Gray and Alexopoulos, 1968). Depending on the species, the size of the plasmodia can vary from microscopic to several dozen centimetres in diameter (e.g., Fuligo septica) and up to several square meters. The mass of some Myxomycetes can reach 30 g (Raven et al., 1986).
One of the most consistently abundant and widely distributed Myxomycetes is...