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This feels very much like a prototypical version of sex with two 'haploid' cells merging to form a 'diploid'. It's not quite clear from the article what happen
by Angostura 6y ago
This feels very much like a prototypical version of sex with two 'haploid' cells merging to form a 'diploid'.
It's not quite clear from the article what happens to these merged cells in the long-run. Do they continue to reproduce, forming effectively a new species of bacterium?
- throwaway_pdp09 6y ago"The team found that C. ljungdahlii invades C. acetobutylicum. The two organisms combine cell walls and membranes and exchange proteins and RNA to form hybrid cells, some of which continue to divide and in fact differentiate into the characteristic sporulation program" I read that as saying the new chimera (...?) is viable.
- Angostura 6y agoYes, but it skirts a bit - do the resultant spores produce new members of the combined organism, or do they segregate back into the parent species? It feels like, maybe the latter
- throwaway_pdp09 6y agoGiven "and RNA to form hybrid cells" it would be hard to see them unhybridising; would that even be possible once you've mixed up so much? So I read the former where you read the latter, but it needs clarifying doesn't it.