Myxomycete research in the Philippines: Updates and opportunities

Abstract

Myxomycetes, commonly known as slime molds, are phagotrophic, eukaryotic organisms that exhibit both fungal and protozoan characteristics. They are widely distributed both in temperate and tropical ecoregions, where they usually occur on dead plant substrates, such as bark, twigs, dried leaves, woody vines, and even decayed inflorescences or fruits. Their unique, diverse morphologies and fascinating life strategies make them ideal model organisms to study life processes. However, despite the high potential diversity in tropical systems, little is known about them particularly in archipelagic countries, such as the Philippines. In fact, previous studies on myxomycetes in the Philippines in the late 70s and early 80s by Reynolds encompassed the most comprehensive listing for the country. A total of 107 species were recorded at that time for the Philippines and roughly 50% of these species represented new records for the country. But the paper was mainly an extensive, annotated species listing. In recent years, myxomycete research in the country has progressed beyond species lists to diversity and ecological studies. Several papers by the UST RCNAS Fungal Biodiversity and Systematics group have documented the occurrence and distribution of slime molds in several habitat types, e.g. in forest parks, coastal and inland limestone forests, lowland mountain forests, and from varied substrata -grass litter, aerial and ground leaf litter, twigs, and bark. These studies updated the list of species of myxomycetes in the Philippines to 150. These also provided baseline information on the ecological patterns and geographic distribution of slime molds in the tropics. This paper presents an update on slime mold research in the Philippines for the 35 years following Reynolds' publication in 1981 and discusses challenges and opportunities for further studies.

Myxomycetes of the Caramoan Islands and an update on the species found in the Bicol Peninsula, Philippines

“…The entire study area showed 46% survey exhaustiveness using EstimateS (Colwell 2013). This value is lower than that of Palawan (92%, Pecundo et al 2017) and Lubang Island (96%, Macabago et al 2016), albeit comparable to studies that have been carried out in Mindoro (47%, Dagamac et al 2015), in Bohol (56%, Macabago et al 2017), and in other parts of Bicol Peninsula (58%, Dagamac et al 2017). The specific survey completeness for each island in Caramoan ranged from 50-68% (Fig.…”

Myxomycete communities occurring in fragmented forest patches in two municipalities of Laguna, Philippines

“…Here, she had successfully collected 314 specimens of myxomycetes from Luzon (Quezon City and Laguna) and Mindanao (Basilan and Zamboanga). But according to Dagamac and dela Cruz (2015), Dogma (1975) has stated that Martin and Alexopoulos (1969) had already credited the Philippines with 22 species in their book "The Myxomycetes". However, it was Don Reynolds (1981) who has successfully made the most remarkable findings of myxomycetes in the Philippines, after he reported a total of 107 species.…”

“…However, it was Don Reynolds (1981) who has successfully made the most remarkable findings of myxomycetes in the Philippines, after he reported a total of 107 species. Since then, surveys and publications about myxomycetes have remained stagnant for nearly 30 years (Dagamac and dela Cruz 2015). Apparently, new records for the country were reported during the last recent decade as several surveys, i.e.…”

First records of rare epiphytic species Physarum lakhanpalii and Ph. lenticulare for Russia

“…North America: Mexico. South America: Ecuador, Panama, Martinique (Nannenga-Bremekamp, Yamamoto, 1987;Chung, Liu, 1997;Ukkola, 2000;Ukkola et al, 2001;Degawa et al, 2006;Lado, de Basanta, 2008;Ndiritu et al, 2009;Oltra, 2010;Liu et al, 2013;Takahashi, 2014;Yamamoto et al, 2014;Dagamac, dela Cruz, 2015;Walker, 2016; GBIF. URL: https:// www.gbif.org/species/8022980).…”