Slime Mold (5575255392)

Description:

Description: When food is scarce, the separate cells of the slime mold aggregate and form what is called a fruiting body. Cells at the tip of the fruiting body organize into a formation very similar to the epithelial layer of cells found in many organs of higher animals. Researchers found that the proteins responsible for organizing cells at the tip of the slime mold's fruiting body are genetically very similar to those that perform the same function in animal cells. For more information, see the NSF press release. Credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation Visit NSF’s Multimedia Gallery, at www.nsf.gov/news/mmg, for more images, and for video. Date: 30 March 2011, 13:41. Source: Slime Mold. Author: National Science Foundation.