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de Lacy Costello BP, Adamatzky AI. Assessing the chemotaxis behavior of Physarum polycephalum to a range of simple volatile organic chemicals. Commun Integr Biol. 2013;6(5):e25030doi: 10.4161/cib.25030.
de Lacy Costello, B. P., & Adamatzky, A. I. (2013). Assessing the chemotaxis behavior of Physarum polycephalum to a range of simple volatile organic chemicals. Communicative & integrative biology, 6(5), e25030. https://doi.org/10.4161/cib.25030
de Lacy Costello, Ben P J, and Adamatzky, Andrew I. "Assessing the chemotaxis behavior of Physarum polycephalum to a range of simple volatile organic chemicals." Communicative & integrative biology vol. 6,5 (2013): e25030. doi: https://doi.org/10.4161/cib.25030
de Lacy Costello BP, Adamatzky AI. Assessing the chemotaxis behavior of Physarum polycephalum to a range of simple volatile organic chemicals. Commun Integr Biol. 2013 Sep 01;6(5):e25030. doi: 10.4161/cib.25030. Epub 2013 Jun 14. PMID: 24265848; PMCID: PMC3829954.
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Commun Integr Biol. 2013 Sep 01;6(5):e25030. doi: 10.4161/cib.25030. Epub 2013 Jun 14.

Assessing the chemotaxis behavior of Physarum polycephalum to a range of simple volatile organic chemicals.

Communicative & integrative biology

Ben P J de Lacy Costello, Andrew I Adamatzky

Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biosensing Technology; University of the West of England; Bristol, UK ; Unconventional Computing Group; University of the West of England; Bristol, UK.

PMID: 24265848 PMCID: PMC3829954 DOI: 10.4161/cib.25030

Abstract

The chemotaxis behavior of the plasmodial stage of the true slime mold Physarum Polycephalum was assessed when given a binary choice between two volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) placed in its environment. All possible binary combinations were tested between 19 separate VOCs selected due to their prevalence and biological activity in common plant and insect species. The slime mold exhibited positive chemotaxis toward a number of VOCs with the following order of preference:   Farnesene > β-myrcene > tridecane > limonene > p-cymene > 3-octanone > β-pinene > m-cresol > benzylacetate > cis-3-hexenylacetate. For the remaining compounds, no positive chemotaxis was observed in any of the experiments, and for most compounds there was an inhibitory effect on the growth of the slime mold. By assessing this lack of growth or failure to propagate, it was possible to produce a list of compounds ranked in terms of their inhibitory effect: nonanal > benzaldehyde > methylbenzoate > linalool > methyl-p-benzoquinone > eugenol > benzyl alcohol > geraniol > 2-phenylethanol. This analysis shows a distinct preference of the slime mold for non-oxygenated terpene and terpene-like compounds (farnesene, β-myrcene, limonene, p-cymene and β-pinene). In contrast, terpene-based alcohols such as geraniol and linalool were found to have a strong inhibitory effect on the slime mold. Both the aldehydes utilized in this study had the strongest inhibitory effect on the slime mold of all the 19 VOCs tested. Interestingly, 3-octanone, which has a strong association with a "fungal odor," was the only compound with an oxygenated functionality where Physarum Polycephalum exhibits distinct positive chemotaxis.

Keywords: Physarum polycephalum; chemotaxis; plasmodium; terpenes; volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

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