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. 2016 Nov 24;23:83. doi: 10.1186/s12929-016-0301-0

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

The life cycle of Dictyostelium. During growth, single cells feed on bacteria. Upon starvation, cells undergo chemotactic aggregation towards cAMP to form a multicellular mound. The mound then forms a finger, which falls on the surface to generate a motile pseudoplasmodium, or slug. During culmination, terminal differentiation of pre-stalk and pre-spore cells forms a fruiting body composed of a mass of viable spores supported atop a slender stalk. When a food source becomes available, the spores germinate allowing the cells to restart the life cycle