Data from: Direct transfer of learned behaviour via cell fusion in non-neural organisms

Cell fusion is a fundamental phenomenon observed in all eukaryotes. Cells can exchange resources such as molecules or organelles during fusion. In this paper, we ask whether a cell can also transfer an adaptive response to a fusion partner. We addressed this question in the unicellular slime mould Physarum polycephalum, in which cell–cell fusion is extremely common. Slime moulds are capable of habituation, a simple form of learning, when repeatedly exposed to an innocuous repellent, despite lacking neurons and comprising only a single cell. In this paper, we present a set of experiments demonstrating that slime moulds habituated to a repellent can transfer this adaptive response by cell fusion to individuals that have never encountered the repellent. In addition, we show that a slime mould resulting from the fusion of a minority of habituated slime moulds and a majority of unhabituated ones still shows an adaptive response to the repellent. Finally, we further reveal that fusion must last a certain time to ensure an effective transfer of the behavioural adaptation between slime moulds. Our results provide strong experimental evidence that slime moulds exhibit transfer of learned behaviour during cell fusion and raise the possibility that similar phenomena may occur in other cell–cell fusion systems.细胞融合（cell fusion）是所有真核生物中普遍存在的基础生命现象。细胞在融合过程中可交换分子、细胞器等各类资源。本文旨在探究：细胞是否能够将适应性响应传递给其融合伴侣。我们以细胞间融合（cell–cell fusion）极为普遍的单细胞黏菌多头绒泡菌（Physarum polycephalum）为模型，针对这一问题开展了相关研究。黏菌虽缺乏神经元且仅由单个细胞构成，但在反复暴露于无害驱避剂时，可形成习惯化（habituation）——一种简单的学习形式。本文通过一系列实验证实：已对驱避剂形成习惯化的多头绒泡菌，可通过细胞融合将该适应性响应传递给从未接触过该驱避剂的个体。此外，我们发现：由少数已习惯化的多头绒泡菌与多数未习惯化的个体融合产生的子代细胞，仍会对驱避剂表现出适应性响应。最后，我们进一步揭示：细胞融合需持续一定时长，才能确保多头绒泡菌间的行为适应性实现有效传递。本研究结果为多头绒泡菌可通过细胞融合传递习得性行为提供了强有力的实验证据，同时也提示类似现象或可存在于其他细胞间融合系统中。