Practice question

Dictyostelium discoideum belongs to Amoebozoa, a major eukaryotic supergroup defined by lobose pseudopodia, tubular mitochondrial cristae, and lack of flagellated vegetative forms. Historically misplaced in fungi due to fruiting body shape, molecular phylogenomics places it among cellular slime molds distant from fungi and plants. This explains phagocytic feeding on bacteria, actin-driven motility, and chemotactic aggregation. Amoebozoan context underscores why it serves as evolutionary model illuminating transition between unicellular protist lifestyle and regulated multicellular development, signaling, and altruistic differentiation with kin selection.