Our data indicate that multicellularity in Fonticula evolved independent of that found in the fungal and animal radiations. Thus, there are four types of multicellularity in the supergroup-animal, fungal, colonial, and now aggregative. Fonticula represents the first example of a cellular slime mold morphology within Opisthokonta. We propose a new name for this well-supported clade, Nucletmycea, incorporating Nuclearia, Fonticula, and Fungi. Fonticula plus Nuclearia are sister to Fungi. Molecular trees demonstrate that Fonticula is an opisthokont that branches sister to filose amoebae in the genus Nuclearia. In an effort to place the cellular slime mold Fonticula alba, an amoeboid protist with aggregative, multicellular fruiting, we sequenced five nuclear encoded genes small subunit ribosomal RNA, actin, beta-tubulin, elongation factor 1-alpha, and the cytosolic isoform of heat shock protein 70 for phylogenetic analyses. Along with the animals and Fungi, multiple protists have been placed in the supergroup Opisthokonta making it exceptionally diverse.
The shared ancestry between Fungi and animals has been unequivocally demonstrated by abundant molecular and morphological data for well over a decade.
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