
Below is a detailed a life cycle, but not all slime moulds will follow this exactly.
1 - Once a spore is released from the fruiting body, it's dispersed, either by insects, animals, rain or air movement. On landing in a suitable location with appropriate moisture and temperature, one to four
protoplasts are germinated.
2 - The
protoplasts once released from the spore's wall through either a pore or fissure will be either a
flagellated swarm cell if conditions are wet, or a non-flagellated
myxamoebae cell in dryer conditions.
3 - If conditions for growth are not suitable, the cells can become microcysts to survive for long periods of time.
4 - A
diploid zygote is formed when two compatible
myxamoebae or swarm cells fuse. This is known as
plasmogamy and
karyogamy.
5 - After a time of feeding and growing, the
zygote develops into a single-celled multinucleate structure known as a
plasmodium.
6 - If environmental conditions are not suitable, then the
plasmodium can change into another dormant state known as the
sclerotium.
7 - When the conditions are right, the mature
plasmodium produces one to many fruiting bodies containing
spores, depending on species.
Assorted plasmodiums: at this point, they are unidentifiable.