NEET BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Slime molds are fungus-like protists commonly found on rotting logs and compost. They move very slowly in search of decaying matter to eat. When food is scarce, individual cells swarm together to form a blob-like mass, like the “dog vomit” slime mold in the Figure below.

Detailed explanation-2: -Slime molds are classified in the Kingdom Protista (the Protists), despite many years of having been classified as fungi, in the class Myxomycetes.

Detailed explanation-3: -Slime molds are fungus-like protists that grow as slimy masses on decaying matter. They are commonly found on items such as rotting logs. Water molds are fungus-like protists present in moist soil and surface water; they live as parasites or on decaying organisms.

Detailed explanation-4: -Fungus-like protists are known as molds. Like true fungi, they are heterotrophic feeders and absorb nutrients from decaying organic matter in their environment. They also reproduce using spores. However, they differ from true fungi in that their cell walls contain cellulose, rather than chitin.

Detailed explanation-5: -So what is slime mold, and how does it do this? Slime mold is not a plant or animal. It’s not a fungus, though it sometimes resembles one. Slime mold, in fact, is a soil-dwelling amoeba, a brainless, single-celled organism, often containing multiple nuclei.