The life cycle and cytology of the myxogastres.

In recent years considerable attention has been directed towards the organisms collectively known as "slime moulds". Recent work on these organisms has revealed that they are particularly favourable organisms for studying the physiology and morphology of differentiation. The term "slime mould” commonly refers to the members of four different groups of organisms; the Labyrinthulales, the Acrasiales, the Myxogastrales or Myxomycetes, and the Plasmodiophorales. With the exception of the Plasmodiophorales, the members of these groups are non-parasitic in higher plants