Myxomycetes (Amoebozoa) are a group of protists, comprising more than 1,050 described species[1]. They are almost cosmopolitan in distribution and often abundant on the upper soil layer, yet their ecological roles remain relatively poorly understood.
My research focuses on the phylogeography and genetic diversity of nivicolous myxomycetes—species that form fruiting bodies near snowbanks shortly after the seasonal snow cover (typically lasting over three months) has melted.
This ecological guild is particularly suitable for quantitative studies, as seasonal sampling is predictable, and most species belong to the black-spored clade, which is particularly well-suited for molecular identification using the nearly universal 18S rDNA barcoding marker[2, 3, 4].
Although these organisms cannot yet be cultivated under laboratory conditions, molecular data from field-collected specimens provide valuable insights into the reproductive strategies of free-dispersing protists and patterns of local adaptation from an evolutionary biology perspective.
[1] Lado, C., & Eliasson, U. (2022). Taxonomy and systematics: Current knowledge and approaches on the taxonomic treatment of Myxomycetes: updated version. In Myxomycetes (2nd ed., pp. 269–324). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-824281-0.00005-1
[2] Fiore-Donno, A. M., Kamono, A., Meyer, M., Schnittler, M., Fukui, M., & Cavalier-Smith, T. (2012). 18S rDNA phylogeny of Lamproderma and allied genera (Stemonitales, Myxomycetes, Amoebozoa). PLoS ONE, 7(4), e35359. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035359
[3] Shchepin, O. N., López-Villalba, Á., Inoue, M., Prikhodko, I. S., Erastova, D. A., Okun, M. V., Woyzichovski, J., Yajima, Y., Gmoshinskiy, V. I., Moreno, G., Novozhilov, Y. K., & Schnittler, M. (2024). DNA barcodes reliably differentiate between nivicolous species of Diderma (Myxomycetes, Amoebozoa) and reveal regional differences within Eurasia. Protist, 175(2), 126023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2024.126023
[4] Inoue, M., Woyzichovski, J., López-Villalba, Á., Shchepin, O. N., Klahr, A., Novozhilov, Y. K., & Schnittler, M. (2024). Using barcoding to reveal ecological patterns of nivicolous myxomycetes in the German Alps: How do they deal with varying snow conditions? Fungal Ecology, 71, 101374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2024.101374
1. Phylogeography of nivicolous myxomycetes in the mountains of Eurasia
2. Genetic diversity of nivicolous myxomycetes in Japan
3. Taxonomic examination for unknown clades of nivicolous myxomycetes collected in the mountains of Eurasia
Coming soon:I am also involved in several collaborative projects, particularly on nivicolous myxomycetes in various mountain ranges, where I contribute to morphological identification and data analysis.
Within the lab-based project under Prof. Dr. M. Schnittler