Re:De novo origins of multicellularity in response to predation
by lurquer on Tuesday February 26, 2019 @12:31AM
(#19252209)
Perhaps I'm missing something, but it seems they artificially selected for single-celled organisms that are sticky and clump together (thus making them -- as a group -- too large to be eaten.)
As the 'stickiness' doesn't really pose a disadvantage to the single-celled organism, the trait persists even after the predator is removed.
In short, can a collection of 'stickier-than-normal' single-celled organisms truly be referred to as a multicellular organism? Aren't they stretching the definition of multicellular? Each of the units, after all, reproduces on its own and there is no differentiation.
As the 'stickiness' doesn't really pose a disadvantage to the single-celled organism, the trait persists even after the predator is removed.
In short, can a collection of 'stickier-than-normal' single-celled organisms truly be referred to as a multicellular organism? Aren't they stretching the definition of multicellular? Each of the units, after all, reproduces on its own and there is no differentiation.