Practice question

Dictyostelium development progresses through vegetative growth, starvation-induced aggregation, mound formation, slug migration, and culmination into fruiting body. Sporulation defined as fungal production of sporangia via mitotic or meiotic budding without aggregation is not part of Dictyostelium program. Although Dictyostelium produces spores, they differentiate within sorus from prespore cells after encapsulation, distinct from sporangiophore sporulation typical of Mucor or Aspergillus. Vegetative, aggregation, and migration stages are textbook, while sporulation as independent developmental mode associated with hyphal growth does not accurately describe dictyostelid life cycle, which remains haploid throughout.