Developing multicellularity; bacterial example (Evolution)

by David Turell , Monday, May 25, 2015, 15:29 (3468 days ago) @ David Turell

Here is an example of bacteria working together in a multicellular way, actually repairing each other:-http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150521133738.htm-"A University of Wyoming faculty member led a research team that discovered a certain type of soil bacteria can use their social behavior of outer membrane exchange (OME) to repair damaged cells and improve the fitness of the bacteria population as a whole.-"Daniel Wall, a UW associate professor in the Department of Molecular Biology, and others were able to show that damaged sustained by the outer membrane (OM) of a myxobacteria cell population was repaired by a healthy population using the process of OME. The research revealed that these social organisms benefit from group behavior that endows favorable fitness consequences among kin cells.-"'During nutrient depletion, myxobacteria cooperate to build a macroscopic structure called a fruiting body," Vassallo says. "The structure resembles a tree or mushroom in appearance."-"A fruiting body is essentially a multicellular organism that produces dormant spores that are resistant to environmental stresses.-"These myxobacterial cells, in their native environments, must cope with factors that compromise the integrity of the cell, Wall says. Rather than looking out only for themselves like other bacterial species, the individual myxobacteria cells band together as a social group to assist their kin that become damaged.-"'Myxobacteria are unusual for bacteria in that they have a true multicellular life," Wall says. "Researchers are interested in how the evolutionary transition occurred toward multi-cellularity; that is, how cooperation develops and single cells are not just interested in themselves. The Darwinian view is that each individual is out for themselves; 'survival of the fittest.'"-"'When environmental cells come together, they compete with each other," Wall continues. "With OME, we think it allows myxobacteria cells to transition from a heterogeneous single cellular life to a more harmonious multicellular life.'"