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.细胞融合是所有真核生物中均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。本研究旨在探究：细胞是否可通过细胞间融合，将适应性反应传递给融合配偶体。我们以细胞间融合极为普遍的单细胞黏菌——多头绒泡菌（Physarum polycephalum）为研究对象，解答上述问题。尽管黏菌缺乏神经元且仅由单个细胞构成，但当其反复接触无害驱避剂时，可产生习惯化——一种简易的学习形式。本研究通过一系列实验证实：预先对驱避剂产生习惯化的黏菌，可通过细胞间融合将该适应性反应传递给从未接触过该驱避剂的个体。此外，我们发现，由少数已习惯化的黏菌与多数未习惯化的黏菌融合形成的子代黏菌，仍可对驱避剂产生适应性反应。最后，我们进一步揭示：细胞间融合需持续一定时长，才能确保黏菌间的行为适应性反应实现有效传递。本研究结果为黏菌可通过细胞间融合传递习得行为提供了坚实的实验证据，并提示类似现象或可存在于其他细胞间融合系统中。