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      Programmed Cell Death and Complexity in Microbial Systems

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      Current Biology
      Elsevier BV

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          Multi-species biofilms: living with friendly neighbors.

          Our knowledge regarding the nature and development of microbial biofilms has grown significantly since the first report of these communities by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in the late 1600s. Nevertheless, most biofilm studies examine mono-species cultures, whereas nearly all biofilm communities in nature comprise a variety of microorganisms. The species that constitute a mixed biofilm and the interactions between these microorganisms critically influence the development and shape of the community. In this review, we focus on interactions occurring within a multi-species biofilm and their effects on the nature of the mixed community. In general, interspecies interactions involve communication, typically via quorum sensing, and metabolic cooperation or competition. Interactions among species within a biofilm can be antagonistic, such as competition over nutrients and growth inhibition, or synergistic. The latter can result in the development of several beneficial phenotypes. These include the promotion of biofilm formation by co-aggregation, metabolic cooperation where one species utilizes a metabolite produced by a neighboring species, and increased resistance to antibiotics or host immune responses compared to the mono-species biofilms. These beneficial interactions in mixed biofilms have important environmental, industrial, and clinical implications. The latter, for example, impacts the course and treatment of biofilm-related infections, such as those manifested in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients. © 2012 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.
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            Experimental evolution of multicellularity.

            Multicellularity was one of the most significant innovations in the history of life, but its initial evolution remains poorly understood. Using experimental evolution, we show that key steps in this transition could have occurred quickly. We subjected the unicellular yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to an environment in which we expected multicellularity to be adaptive. We observed the rapid evolution of clustering genotypes that display a novel multicellular life history characterized by reproduction via multicellular propagules, a juvenile phase, and determinate growth. The multicellular clusters are uniclonal, minimizing within-cluster genetic conflicts of interest. Simple among-cell division of labor rapidly evolved. Early multicellular strains were composed of physiologically similar cells, but these subsequently evolved higher rates of programmed cell death (apoptosis), an adaptation that increases propagule production. These results show that key aspects of multicellular complexity, a subject of central importance to biology, can readily evolve from unicellular eukaryotes.
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              Bacterial Programmed Cell Death and Multicellular Behavior in Bacteria

              Traditionally, programmed cell death (PCD) is associated with eukaryotic multicellular organisms. However, recently, PCD systems have also been observed in bacteria. Here we review recent research on two kinds of genetic programs that promote bacterial cell death. The first is mediated by mazEF, a toxin–antitoxin module found in the chromosomes of many kinds of bacteria, and mainly studied in Escherichia coli. The second program is found in Bacillus subtilis, in which the skf and sdp operons mediate the death of a subpopulation of sporulating bacterial cells. We relate these two bacterial PCD systems to the ways in which bacterial populations resemble multicellular organisms.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Current Biology
                Current Biology
                Elsevier BV
                09609822
                July 2016
                July 2016
                : 26
                : 13
                : R587-R593
                Article
                10.1016/j.cub.2016.05.057
                27404254
                69afdeb8-2fa1-40e6-bed9-9672c02f0235
                © 2016
                History

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