Bacteria as Multicellular Organisms

Shapiro, James A.

doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0688-82

Cited by 302 publications

(223 citation statements)

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“…Indeed, a colony of bacteria cannot establish multicellular organisms to satisfy the requirement of recursiveness as a colony (I). On the other hand, the differentiation itself (stated as the property II) has a broader generality (Ko et al, 1994;Shapiro and Dworkin, 1997). When bacteria are put into a condition with very strong cell-cell interaction, they can be differentiated into distinct types of enzyme activities (i.e., they satisfy property II) (Ko et al, 1994).…”

Section: Summary and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Origin of multicellular organisms as an inevitable consequence of dynamical systems

Furusawa

Kaneko

2002

Anat. Rec.

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The origin of multicellular organisms is studied by considering a cell system that satisfies minimal conditions, that is, a system of interacting cells with intracellular biochemical dynamics, and potentiality in reproduction. Three basic features in multicellular organismscellular diversification, robust developmental process, and emergence of germ-line cells-are found to be general properties of such a system. Irrespective of the details of the model, such features appear when there are complex oscillatory dynamics of intracellular chemical concentrations. Cells differentiate from totipotent stem cells into other cell types due to instability in the intracellular dynamics with cell-cell interactions, as explained by our isologous diversification theory (Furusawa and Kaneko, 1998a;Kaneko and Yomo, 1997). This developmental process is shown to be stable with respect to perturbations, such as molecular fluctuations and removal of some cells. By further imposing an adequate cell-typedependent adhesion force, some cells are released, from which the next generation cell colony is formed, and a multicellular organism life-cycle emerges without any finely tuned mechanisms. This recursive production of multicellular units is stabilized if released cells are few in number, implying the separation of germ cell lines. Furthermore, such an organism with a variety of cellular states and robust development is found to maintain a larger growth speed as an ensemble by achieving a cooperative use of resources, compared to simple cells without differentiation. Our results suggest that the emergence of multicellular organisms is not a "difficult problem" in evolution, but rather is a natural consequence of a cell colony that can grow continuously. Anat Rec 268: 327-342, 2002.

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Section: Summary and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Origin of multicellular organisms as an inevitable consequence of dynamical systems

Furusawa

Kaneko

2002

Anat. Rec.

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“…Pat Higgins and I subsequently found that some of these patterns resulted from differential activation of Mu transposition/replication functions (Shapiro & Higgins, 1988). Suddenly, the differences between maize plants and bacterial colonies were dissolving, and it became apparent to me that bacterial colonies could also be viewed as multicellular organisms (Shapiro, 1988).…”

Section: Personal History: Transposable Elements Adaptive Mutation Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacteria are small but not stupid: cognition, natural genetic engineering and socio-bacteriology

Shapiro

2007

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in

172

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40 years experience as a bacterial geneticist have taught me that bacteria possess many cognitive, computational and evolutionary capabilities unimaginable in the first six decades of the 20 th Century. Analysis of cellular processes such as metabolism, regulation of protein synthesis, and DNA repair established that bacteria continually monitor their external and internal environments and compute functional outputs based on information provided by their sensory apparatus. Studies of genetic recombination, lysogeny, antibiotic resistance and my own work on transposable elements revealed multiple widespread bacterial systems for mobilizing and engineering DNA molecules. Examination of colony development and organization led me to appreciate how extensive multicellular collaboration is among the majority of bacterial species. Contemporary research in many laboratories on cell-cell signaling, symbiosis and pathogenesis show that bacteria utilize sophisticated mechanisms for intercellular communication and even have the ability to commandeer the basic cell biology of "higher" plants and animals to meet their own needs. This remarkable series of observations requires us to revise basic ideas about biological information processing and recognize that even the smallest cells are sentient beings.

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“…The findings provide the basis for AFM as a useful tool for investigating microbial-surface ultrastructures and nanomechanical properties under native conditions. force spectroscopy ͉ nonomechanics ͉ bacteria ͉ swarm B acteria live mainly as single-or multispecies multicellular communities (1,2), usually assuming the form of surfaceassociated cell assemblages, or biofilms (3)(4)(5). Intercellular communication and concerted multicellular activities, through which the cells can differentiate and produce spatially organized structures, are common within microbial communities (refs.…”

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confidence: 99%

Nanoscale visualization and characterization of Myxococcus xanthus cells with atomic force microscopy

Pelling

Shi

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

111

109

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Multicellular microbial communities are the predominant form of existence for microorganisms in nature. As one of the most primitive social organisms, Myxococcus xanthus has been an ideal model bacterium for studying intercellular interaction and multicellular organization. Through previous genetic and EM studies, various extracellular appendages and matrix components have been found to be involved in the social behavior of M. xanthus, but none of them was directly visualized and analyzed under native conditions. Here, we used atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging and in vivo force spectroscopy to characterize these cellular structures under native conditions. AFM imaging revealed morphological details on the extracellular ultrastructures at an unprecedented resolution, and in vivo force spectroscopy of live cells in fluid allowed us to nanomechanically characterize extracellular polymeric substances. The findings provide the basis for AFM as a useful tool for investigating microbial-surface ultrastructures and nanomechanical properties under native conditions. force spectroscopy ͉ nonomechanics ͉ bacteria ͉ swarm

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Bacteria as Multicellular Organisms

Cited by 302 publications

References 0 publications

Origin of multicellular organisms as an inevitable consequence of dynamical systems

Origin of multicellular organisms as an inevitable consequence of dynamical systems

Bacteria are small but not stupid: cognition, natural genetic engineering and socio-bacteriology

Nanoscale visualization and characterization of Myxococcus xanthus cells with atomic force microscopy

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