ABSTRACT
Dictyostelium discoideum grows as a unicellular, ameboid organism. When cells exhaust their food supply, they initiate a developmental program which leads to the formation of a multicellular aggregate comprised of distinct, non-dividing cell types. 1 , 2 These cells, organized through morphogenetic movement and cell sorting, are nonterminally differentiated prestalk and prespore cells, the precursors to the terminally differentiated stalk and spore cells found in the fully mature fruiting body at the culmination of development. 1 Aggregation, differentiation, and cell sorting are directed by secreted (extracellular) cAMP which serves as both a chemoattractant and a hormone-like, primary signaling molecule. 2
