Social Behavior in Microbes

A field of genetically identical amoebas found in Texas recently may indicate that cells have the potential to organize themselves on a much larger scale than previously believed. The mass of single-celled amoebas, found in a cow pasture in Houston and measured to be nearly 40 feet in diameter, is an interesting find because of the nature of the organisms. They are known as 'social amoebas' due to their tendency to gather in organized groups and cooperate in facilitating the reproduction of fellow amoebas through altruistic behavior (sometimes even suicidal altruism). This process is explained evolutionarily, because in general, the more similar two organisms are genetically, the more assisting each other will favor natural selection.

The fact that the size of the colony was of such magnitude indicates not only that the range of communication between amoebas and other cells might be on more than microscopic distances, but that cells in general may be able to evolve to organize themselves on larger scales such as these. It is believed that if other similar clonal colonies were to be found in different microbial species, it could help in explaining the widespread finding of social behaviors among microbes in general.

The conditions for prompting growth of a colony such as this are still unclear and despite the size of the colony, it is still quite fragile, as a rainstorm one week later left no traces of it.

Nicholas Skvir (Group C, Week 6)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/science/24amoe.html?ref=science