A
team of Cambridge scientists working on the intersection between biology and
computation has found that random gene activity helps patterns form during
development of a model multicellular system.
We
all start life as a single cell, which multiplies and develops into specialised
cells that carry out different functions. This complex process relies on
precise controls along the way, but these new findings suggest random processes
also contribute to patterning.
A
biofilm develops when free-living single-celled bacteria attach to a surface
and aggregate together to start multiplying and spreading across the surface.
These multiplying individual cells mature to form a three-dimensional structure
that acts like a multicellular organism.
And
while individual cells can survive on their own, these bacteria prefer to work
together with biofilms being the dominant form found in nature.
The
biofilm consortium provides bacteria with various survival advantages like
increased resistance to environmental stresses.
The
researchers developed a new time-lapse microscopy technique to track how
genetically identical single cells behave as the living biofilm developed.
See:
Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle, Pharmaceutical Microbiology Resources (http://www.pharmamicroresources.com/)
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Pharmaceutical Microbiology Resources