Abstract
The first results of a study of dictyostelid diversity in soils of Mediterranean vegetation are presented. Surface soil samples were collected during 2003–2004 from different Mediterranean forests in Spain and Portugal and were plated out for cellular slime moulds. Isolated during this study were 14 species of dictyostelids. One species, Dictyostelium firmibasis is reported for the first time from Europe, and nine (Dictyostelium aureo-stipes, Dictyostelium sp. 1, Dictyostelium fasciculatum, Dictyostelium giganteum, Dictyostelium implicatum, Dictyostelium leptosomum, Dictyostelium sphaerocephalum, Polysphondylium candidum, Polysphondylium pallidum) are new records for the Mediterranean region. Members of the three genera Dictyostelium (ten species), Polysphondylium (three species) and Acytostelium (one species) are present in this region of the world. Comments on their diversity and distribution are included.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank to Dr. J. C. Cavender (Ohio University, USA), Dr. J. Landolt (Shepherd University, USA), Dr. H. Hagiwara (National Science Museum, Tokyo, Japan) and Dr. E. Vadell (Museo de Ciencias Naturales, Buenos Aires, Argentina) for the examination of cultures, and Dr. J. Landolt for the helpful suggestions and critical reading of the manuscript. We also would like to thank Diana Wrigley de Basanta for the linguistic assistance. This research was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Spain (REN2002-00445/GLO and CGL2005-00320/BOS) and an I3P grant to M. Romeralo. The stay of the first author at the Universities of Ohio and Shepherdstown, USA, was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (GBE-0316284).
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Romeralo, M., Lado, C. Dictyostelids from Mediterranean forests of the south of Europe. Mycol Progress 5, 231–241 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-006-0515-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-006-0515-8