DOI: 10.5061/dryad.w9ghx3fwn
title: Data from: Allorecognition behaviors in myxomycetes respond to intraspecies factors

description: Myxomycetes are multinucleate unicellular organisms. They form a
 plasmodium that moves by protoplasmic flow and prey on microorganisms.
 When encountering intraspecifics, the plasmodium has the capacity for
 ‘fusion’, actively approaching and fusing its cells, or
 'avoidance', altering its direction to avoid the other
 individual. This is an allorecognition ability. However, it remains
 unclear whether the range of allorecognition extends to other species, and
 its ecological significance is also obscure. Here, we conduct a
 quantitative evaluation of contact responses from closely related species
 of plasmodium to clarify the recognition range of the allorecognition
 system in Myxomycetes. Behavioural assays demonstrate that the
 allorecognition system recognizes individuals within the same species
 while failing to recognize those of different species. The allorecognition
 is an extremely narrow and inward-focused mechanism, arguing for a highly
 specialized system of self-other recognition.
description: Behavioral tests to verify the allorecognition behavior of
 Myxomycetes plasmodia were conducted based on a previously established
 method (Masui et al., 2018). Two plasmodia were placed 3 mm apart on 2%
 agar medium and recorded by time-lapse photography every minute until the
 two individuals fused or two days had elapsed. The experimental
 environment was kept at 25°C, with no direct light exposure, and the
 samples were watered with sterile water to prevent the surface of the
 medium from drying out. Both <em>Physarum rigidum </em>and
 <em>Physarum roseum </em>were used in intraspecies and
 interspecies behavioral tests. In each behavioral test, an
 'encounter' was defined as behavior in which plasmodia stopped
 moving within 3 mm of each other for at least 2 minutes or in which cell
 membranes made contact with each other, and was assessed using the
 following framework. Behavioral tests were qualitatively assessed using a
 tripartite framework comprising ‘fusion’, ‘avoidance’, and ‘no reaction
 (ignore)’. These indicators were meticulously documented and categorized
 up to the point of either ultimate fusion or total cellular separation.
 Encounter cases were classified using time-lapse photography. Fusion was
 defined as the merging of cells with each other. Avoidance was defined as
 ceasing movement or a change in direction of travel without fusion
 occurring during observation. If the cells did not exhibit either of these
 two behaviors and exhibited the behavior of riding over the other
 individual, it was classified as ‘no response (ignore)’.
description: # Myxomycetes have an allorecognition system that can only discriminate
 between intraspecies
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w9ghx3fwn](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w9ghx3fwn) ## Brief Summary of Dataset Contents The dataset associated with the study "Allorecognition behaviors in myxomycetes respond to intraspecies factors" provides comprehensive data on the allorecognition responses of myxomycetes. This includes experimental results on the behavioral assays conducted to observe the fusion and avoidance responses among plasmodia of both the same and different species. The dataset is crucial for understanding the specificity and ecological significance of allorecognition in myxomycetes. ## Description of the data and file structure Behavioral Assay Results: These files contain quantitative data on the fusion, avoidance, and ignoring behaviors observed in two myxomycete species during intraspecies and interspecies encounters. The data are recorded in Excel files with columns representing the encounter pattern, combination, encounter number, and result. ## Sharing/Access information Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: * None provided.