DICTYOSTELID CELLULAR SLIME-MOLDS FROM WESTERN ALASKA USA, AND THE RUSSIAN FAR-EAST

Soil/litter samples for isolation of dictyostelid cellular slime molds were collected from seven sites in eastern Russia and five sites in w estern Alaska, including the Pribilof Island of St. Paul. The two stud y areas are located in portions of Asia and North America that were on ce linked by a land mass that has become known as Beringia; Seven spec ies of dictyostelids were recovered from the samples collected in Russ ia and two species were recorded for samples from Alaska. Densities (c lones/gram) were sometimes surprisingly high, especially for eastern R ussia, where three sites had densities >1000 clones/gram. Dictyosteliu m mucoroides was the single most consistently abundant species in both study areas.