Description of dictyostelid cellular slime mold species in Norway

Ten different species of dictyostelid cellular slime molds were found in Norway, namely Dictyostelium mucoroides Brefeld, D. sp. 1, D. sp. 2, D. aureo–stipes Cavender, Raper & Quinlan, D. fasckulatum Traub, Hohl & Cavender, D. sp. 3, D. minutum Raper, Polysphondylium violaceum Brefeld, P. pallidum Olive and Acylo–stelium leptosomum Raper & Quinlan. D. mucoroides included two varieties, D. sp. 1 and D. sp. 2 are probably related to D. septentrionalis Cavender and D. sphaerocephalum (Oud.) Sacc. & March respectively and D. sp. 3 is probably a new species. Two different spore types, characterized by the presence or absence of ribosomes on the outer mitochondrial membranes, were revealed by transmission electron microscopic studies. This property was related to other properties such as the presence or absence of polar spore granules (PG) and the aggregative responses of the amoebae towards cAMP.