Grex (biology)

A grex (or 'slug') is a multicellular aggregate of amoeba of the groups Acrasiomycota or Dictyosteliida that can be formed when the amoeba run out of food. It takes its form when the column formed from the aggregation of cells collapses due to its height, and becomes a slug-shaped mass. The grex moves as a unit, and the individual organisms form a fruiting body, in which amoeba are differentiated into stalk cells and spore cells. The latter can be transported by wind or water a distance that is relatively great compared with what the organisms can achieve in their typical form; the former desiccate and die. Its name comes from the Latin word meaning 'flock'.

See also

• Dictyosteliid

References

Zimmer, C. 1998. The slime alternative. Discoverer, 19(9), 86-93.