Nutrition
It may be interesting to find out that slime molds are
heterotrophic organisms! This means they can not make their own
food and require other organisms to gain nutrients. Slime molds
go through a process called "phagocytosis" in order to gain the
necessary nutrients. This simply means that the slime mold
engulfs its food items and internally digests it. So this leads
to the question: "What exactly do slime molds 'engulf'?"
Well, slime molds tend to have a varied preference for food.
They can utilize many different substances as food. Some of
these substances include: decaying leaves, logs and dung. But
the slime mold will also engulf other microscopic organisms such
as bacteria,
yeasts, and other small
protists!
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