Ploidal Inheritance in Dictyostelium discoideum: Stable Haploid, Stable Diploid and Metastable Strains

Abstract

The existence of haploid and diploid Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae has been confirmed. Strains were isolated which displayed widely different ploidal compositions. These appear to fall into three general classes: stable haploid, stable diploid and metastable strains. Their ploidal compositions are clonally inherited. Procedures are described by which strains of differing ploidal composition can be isolated, one from the other. The ploidal composition of a clone is correlated with differences in spore and amoeboid size distributions as well as other morphological and morpho-genetic properties.