Responses of the slime mold Physarum polycephalum to changing accelerations

Every cell is probably able to respond to gravity (g) via an unknown gravireceptor mechanism (supposed general gravisensitivity of cells). To investigate this mechanism a free-living ameboid cell, which uses gravity for its spatial orientation (geotaxis), was selected as a model system: the acellular slime mold Physarum polycephalum (Myxomycetes). In this paper results of 0 g-simulation experiments will be compared to results obtained in the Spacelab IML-1 Physarum experiment to stress the reliability of experiments performed on the fast-rotating clinostat.