Bread
Spherum panensis is a multicellular synaplot that lives near the border between zone N and M(within zone N). S. panensis possesses 3 types of cell: building cells, mining cells, and traveling cells. The mining cells provide them with food via lithotrophy, oxidizing methane trapped within the soil; the building cells secretes a mixture of proteins and other chemicals to form a fluffy/doughy cement that traps air; air pockets also traps heat produced by cell metabolism which keeps the cells from dying of the cold; the building cells make up the majority of organisms tissue along side the cement; the traveling cells are motile, with a flagella that helps them travel through a non-flowing network of fluid that permeates the organismto supply the the building cells with food and become other cell types should a part the organism die/gets torn off. S. panensis has an average diameter of 10cm.
They will occasionally form mutualistic relationship with colonies of A. abstractus which supply them with additional heat and antifreeze while they supply it with food.
They only reproduce when water is present as liquid water triggers pores to open which is when traveling cells will group up into and leave the parent via the pores. The group travels into the soil where they are protected from the constant freezing and melting cycle. They will then differentiate into mining cells and building cells, lacking the network and transferring nutrient via osmosis. Their metabolism is quite high, which helps them generate heat and grow quickly; However, this slows down as the synaplot grows. Only when they’re too big to sustain themselves with osmosis is when they start forming the fluid networks and building cells transdifferentiate into traveling cells. Reproduction via fragmentation is also possible.
They grow quickly, doubling their size everyday within the first week or so of leaving the parent and settling down.However, this growth rate dramatically slows down as they age.
This synaplot produces millions of offsprings within their lifetime. However, most of them die since they’re unable to tolerate the freezing-thawing cycle; most individuals in a population of breads(at a time) are immature or dying as they’re slow growers.
