Natural strategies for ultraviolet resilience: lessons from slime moulds

Abstract

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation exerts strong selective pressures on microbial life, yet many microorganisms display extraordinary resistance, revealing strategies that may be broadly useful for understanding survival under extreme stress. We systematically examined how UVA, UVB and UVC affect two slime mould species with contrasting pigmentation, Physarum polycephalum and Badhamia utricularis. Across more than 20 000 behavioural assays, we quantified growth, locomotion, photoavoidance, recovery capacity, fusion outcomes and revival from dormancy. UVB emerged as the most deleterious wavelength, causing rapid and sustained declines in growth and motility, while UVC produced intermediate, species-dependent effects, and UVA had a negligible short-term impact, though prolonged exposure over weeks eventually reduced locomotion. Damage was spatially restricted to irradiated plasmodial regions via compartmentalization but could spread through cytoplasmic fusion with stressed partners. Intermittent dark intervals enabled partial recovery, particularly from UVC, consistent with efficient photorepair, whereas UVB damage was more persistent. Strikingly, both species revived from sclerotia with near-perfect success even after a full week of continuous UV exposure, underscoring dormancy as a robust survival strategy. Badhamia utricularis consistently outperformed P. polycephalum. These findings reveal that slime moulds deploy wavelength-specific, species-dependent and state-dependent strategies to withstand UV stress, with rapid damage compartmentalization limiting immediate dysfunction and

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@article{saintlager2026natural,
  title = {{Natural strategies for ultraviolet resilience: lessons from slime moulds}},
  author = {Marie Saint-Lager and Olivia Eloy and Valentina Rodriguez-Rada and Elise Sumpter and Clara Guérin and Nathan Martin and Julia Baumann and Stéphane Poigny and Audrey Dussutour},
  journal = {Royal Society Open Science},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.1098/rsos.260092},
  url = {https://hal.science/hal-05851563v1},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Natural strategies for ultraviolet resilience: lessons from slime moulds
AU  - Marie Saint-Lager
AU  - Olivia Eloy
AU  - Valentina Rodriguez-Rada
AU  - Elise Sumpter
AU  - Clara Guérin
AU  - Nathan Martin
AU  - Julia Baumann
AU  - Stéphane Poigny
AU  - Audrey Dussutour
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/04
JO  - Royal Society Open Science
DO  - 10.1098/rsos.260092
UR  - https://hal.science/hal-05851563v1
AB  - Ultraviolet (UV) radiation exerts strong selective pressures on microbial life, yet many microorganisms display extraordinary resistance, revealing strategies that may be broadly useful for understanding survival under extreme stress. We systematically examined how UVA, UVB and UVC affect two slime mould species with contrasting pigmentation, Physarum polycephalum and Badhamia utricularis. Across more than 20 000 behavioural assays, we quantified growth, locomotion, photoavoidance, recovery capacity, fusion outcomes and revival from dormancy. UVB emerged as the most deleterious wavelength, causing rapid and sustained declines in growth and motility, while UVC produced intermediate, species-dependent effects, and UVA had a negligible short-term impact, though prolonged exposure over weeks eventually reduced locomotion. Damage was spatially restricted to irradiated plasmodial regions via compartmentalization but could spread through cytoplasmic fusion with stressed partners. Intermittent dark intervals enabled partial recovery, particularly from UVC, consistent with efficient photorepair, whereas UVB damage was more persistent. Strikingly, both species revived from sclerotia with near-perfect success even after a full week of continuous UV exposure, underscoring dormancy as a robust survival strategy. Badhamia utricularis consistently outperformed P. polycephalum. These findings reveal that slime moulds deploy wavelength-specific, species-dependent and state-dependent strategies to withstand UV stress, with rapid damage compartmentalization limiting immediate dysfunction and
SN  - 2054-5703
SN  - 2054-5703
ER  -

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