The plasmodium is mulitnucleate and has no true cell walls. In food shortages, myxomycetes turn into a fruiting body with cell walls. Inside, meiosis produces spores, which, when released, form haploid amoebas, possibly with flagella. Thus, the slime mold acts as a decomposer in the ecosystem, but also as a consumer, as it eats bacteria. At the end of most food chains, the slime mold regenerates consumers waste, allowing plants to re-use the nutrients.
Slime molds pose a problem for the field of taxonomy.
The former phase of life of the slime mold leans toward the Kingdom Protista, while the latter resembles a fungus. Presently, however, slime molds are classified as protista.