Dictyostelium

discoideum Dictyostelium discoideum is a type of soil-dwelling amoeba that is widely used as a model organism in scientific research. This single-celled organism is particularly important because it is able to illustrate aspects of multicellular development and behavior. For example, when food is scarce, large numbers of individual cells aggregate together to form a multicellular organism and undergo an advanced developmental program. Studies of D. discoideum have been used to gain insight into a wide range of biological topics, including cell signaling, cell adhesion and pattern formation, gene regulation, and the evolution of multicellularity.