Slime molds are sepcial eukaryotes.
Slime molds are sepcial and unique eukaryotes that harbor characteristics of both animals and fungi. Its life cycle includes vegetative growth stages and reproductive growth stages, in the vegetative stage, it is amoeboid crawling over the substrate; while in the propagule stage, it produces fungal spores in the fruiting body. As an ideal experimental tool for mitosis research on morphogenesis, reproductive changes, plasma structure and physiology, slime molds have attracted much attention from scientists in the fields of cytology, genetics, biochemistry and biophysics. The life cycle of endospore-producing slime molds represents that of most slime molds. The main stages of individual development include sporulation, swarming, myxoamoeba, zygote, young plasmodium, mature plasmodium, sclerotium, resting spore, young fruiting body, and mature fruiting body. The multi-core diploid protoplasm develops in zygotes through a series of nuclear synchronized mitosis events, and protoplasm integrates with the mature plasmodium to produce fruiting bodies and to segment and form a large number of spores.