any microorganism. Migration of the plasmodium is accomplished when more protoplasm streams to advancing areas and protoplasm is withdrawn from rear areas. When the food supply wanes, the plasmodium will migrate to the surface of its substrate and transform into rigid fruiting bodies. The fruiting bodies or sporangia are what are commonly seen. They superficially look like fungi or molds but are not related to the true fungi. These sporangia will then release spores which hatch into amoebae to begin the life cycle again. In Myxogastria, the plasmodial portion of the life cycle only occurs after syngamy, which is the fusion of cytoplasm and nuclei of myxoamoebae or swarm cells. The diploid zygote becomes a multinucleated plasmodium through multiple nuclear divisions without further cell division. Myxomycete plasmodia are multinucleate masses of protoplasm that move by cytoplasmic streaming. In order for the plasmodium to move, cytoplasm must be diverted towards the leading edge from the lagging end. This process results in the plasmodium advancing in fan-like fronts. As it moves, plasmodium also gains nutrients through the phagocytosis of bacteria and small pieces of organic matter. The plasmodium also has the ability to subdivide and establish separate plasmodia. Conversely, separate plasmodia that are genetically similar and compatible can fuse together to create a larger plasmodium. If conditions become dry, then the plasmodium will form a sclerotium, essentially a dry and dormant state. If conditions become moist again, then the sclerotium absorbs water and an active plasmodium is restored. When the food supply wanes, the Myxomycete plasmodium will enter the next stage of its life cycle forming haploid spores, often in a well-defined sporangium or other spore-bearing structure. Reproduction of Physarum polycephalum Slime molds are isogamous organisms, which means their reproductive cells are all the same size. There are over 900 species of slime molds that exist today. Physarum polycephalum is one species that has three reproductive genes – matA, matB, and matC. The first two types have thirteen separate variations. MatC, however, only has three variations. Each reproductively mature slime mold contains two copies of each of the three reproductive genes. When P. polycephalum is ready to make its reproductive cells, it grows a bulbous extension of its body to contain them. Each cell is created with a random combination of the genes that the slime mold contains within its genome. Therefore, it can create cells with up to eight different gene