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Developmental plasticity of bacterial colonies and consortia in germ-free and gnotobiotic settings Full Text
BMC Microbiology, 08/17/2012
Patkova I et al. – The results suggest that development of a bacterial colony can be considered analogous to embryogenesis in animals, plants, or fungi: to proceed, early stages require thorough insulation from the rest of the biosphere. Only later, the newly developing body gets connected to the ecological interactions in the biosphere. Mixed "anlagen" cannot accomplish the first, germ–free phase of development; hence, they will result in the consortium of small colonies.
