An Analysis of the Distribution of Volumes amongst Spores of the Cellular Slime Mould Dictyostelium discoideum

SUMMARY: The mean volume of a diploid spore population is twice that of a haploid spore population; it is assumed that the mean volume of an aneuploid spore population is a similar reflexion of its ploidy. The distribution of volumes amongst a population of spores of Dictyostelium discoideum was analysed in terms of frequency of occurrence of diploid, aneuploid and haploid cells; in a wild-type strain (nc-4) these cell types were present in the ratio 8:3:89. It is suggested that ‘metastable’ strains are mutants in which this ratio has been altered.