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Bacteria as modular organisms

J H Andrews1

  • 1Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706, USA. jha@plantpath.wisc.edu

Annual Review of Microbiology
|January 19, 1999
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Bacteria exhibit a modular body plan, similar to plants, with cells and colonies acting as iterated units. This perspective offers new insights into bacterial evolution and development.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Modular organisms possess indeterminate body plans with iterated units, unlike unitary organisms with determinate structures.
  • Examples of modular organisms include plants and sessile invertebrates, while mobile animals are unitary.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose that bacteria, including cells and colonies, function as modular organisms.
  • To provide a conceptual framework for understanding bacterial natural history, evolution, and development.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of body plans between macroorganisms and bacteria.
  • Conceptual interpretation of bacterial structures (cell, microcolony, macrocolony) as modules.

Main Results:

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  • Bacteria can be interpreted as modular organisms, with hierarchical modules analogous to those in macroorganisms.
  • This modular view aligns bacterial development with broader biological principles.

Conclusions:

  • Viewing bacteria as modular organisms offers a unified perspective on their development and evolution.
  • This framework may illuminate the origins and biology of modularity across diverse life forms.