Bacterias are more advanced than previously believed

[Judi Lynn]

‘Simple’ bacteria are found to organize in elaborate patterns.

BY
PRANJAL MEHAR
JANUARY 10, 2022



An artistic depiction of cells in the clock-and-wavefront process, a sophisticated development patterning mechanism associated with multicellular organisms. Communities of unicellular organisms were thought to be devoid of such sophisticated patterning. Credit: Nicholas Wilson.

A cluster of bacteria exhibits some exciting features. This cluster lives simultaneously in communities known as biofilms.

According to a past study, biofilms use sophisticated systems to interact. One another study suggests that these biofilms have a robust capacity for memory.

A new study by Stanford University and the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Spain revealed a feature of biofilms unraveling; these communities are far more advanced than previously believed. Scientists discovered that the biofilm cells are arranged in an intricate pattern. This feature was previously only had been associated with higher-level organisms such as plants and animals.

University of California San Diego biologist Gürol Süel said, “We are seeing that biofilms are much more sophisticated than we thought. From a biological perspective, our results suggest that the concept of cell patterning during development is far more ancient than previously thought. The ability of cells to segment themselves in space and time did not just emerge with plants and vertebrates, but may go back over a billion years.”

More:
https://www.techexplorist.com/bacterias-advanced-previously-believed/43971/