SOME ASPECTS OF BEHAVIOR OF THE MIGRATING SLUG OF THE CELLULAR SLIME MOLD DICTYOSTELIUM DISCOIDEUM

The characteristic motile responses of the pseudoplasmodium (slug) of the cellular slime mold, Dictyostelium discoideum, to such experimental conditions as dissection, fusion, grafting, transplantation, insertion of a mica platelet and introduction into a blind tube were studied. The results indicate that the slug tip plays a kind of "leadership" role and directs the cells in the rear part of the slug forward. By combining an improved transplantation technique to introduce a slug into an agar tube with staining with vital dyes and fluorescent antispore serum, it has been shown that anterior cells transplanted into the posterior region of the intact slug migrate toward the anterior, thus confirming the results obtained by Bonner (3). The experiment verified that vital staining by Nile blue sulfate is a useful way to mark the transplanted cells.