Myxomycetes associated with grassland litter in the Philippines

Myxomycetes are homogenous group of eukaryotic fungus-like protists that are commonly associated with any decaying plant materials. Since no report of myxomycete association in grass litters were reported for the Philippines, a myxomycete survey employing moist chamber technique was conducted from 300 grass litter samples collected from ten different grassland areas in the country. Our results showed that 81% of the moist chambers yielded myxomycetes either as fruiting bodies or plasmodia. Species of myxomycetes identified in this study included the genera Arcyria, Badhamia, Collaria, Comatricha, Cribraria, Diderma, Didymium, Lamproderma, Perichaena, Physarum and Stemonitis. These species can easily be dispersed by wind and hence, their presence in the collected substrata. The cosmopolitan species Arcyria cinerea and the common grass myxomycetes Physarum cinereum were reported to be abundant among the myxomycetes recorded. Overall, the study presented the myxobiota present in tropical grasslands and grass patches found in the Philippines.