saprophytes/molds

[Ken Kinman]

Curtis:
      What really makes me cringe is to see textbooks separating off a
Kingdom Fungi and saying it is characterized by a "saprophytic" digestive
mode.  Saprophytes occur in all kingdoms (bacteria, saprophytic plants, and
you could even argue some spiders are partially saprophytic).  There is a
whole continuum from total external digestion to total internal digestion.
      And to this day I still see classifications of "Fungi" which include
myxomycota and/or various water molds, and yet they will often compound the
error by excluding the chytrids.  The main thing we need to do is discourage
use of a formal taxon called "Fungi".  Eumycota seems to be the most
popular, whether you call it a separate kingdom or not.  We still use the
vernacular name "worms", but got rid of the formal "Vermes" a long time ago.
  Likewise, the vernacular "fungi" can be used, but "Fungi" as a taxon just
causes too many problems (and always has).
             ----------------Ken Kinman
P.S.  Order Dictyosteliida (filopodian cellular slime molds) are still
considered part of Mycetozoa.  It is Order Acrasida (lobopodian cellular
slime molds) that are an independent group (as is the Order
Plasmodiophorida).  And the slime nets and water molds are heterokonts
(a.k.a. stramenopiles, chromophytes, chromists----I wish we could finally
settle on one name).
     I'm sure many of these, along with the eumycotan molds, are perfectly
lovely under a microscope (and many brightly colored) during certain stages
of the life cycle.  Unfortunately, those handsome "princes" quickly turn
back into toads or even worse (much more ephemeral than even delicate
butterfly wings).  But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I get
strange looks from people when I say jumping spiders are cute.
******************************************************
Curtis Clark wrote:
>I'm talking above about the Myxomycota sensu stricto (=mycetozoa). (The
>other slime mold group I've seen, exemplified by Dictyostelium, is also
>fascinating.)
>
>>      The point is that saprophytes have popped up many different times in
>>Kingdom Protista, each being more closely related to various groups of
>>flagellates than they are to each other.
>>
>What do you mean by saprophyte in this context?  Mycetozoa are as ingestive
>as any other "protozoan".
>
>Curtis Clark
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com