{"id":194687,"date":"2025-04-02T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/science-research\/planetary-science\/astrobiology\/nasa-research-examines-the-multicellular-behavior-of-unique-bacteria\/"},"modified":"2025-04-02T23:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T13:00:00","slug":"nasa-research-examines-the-multicellular-behavior-of-unique-bacteria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=194687","title":{"rendered":"NASA Research Examines the Multicellular Behavior of Unique Bacteria"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"The<\/a><\/figure>
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An electron microscopy images of multicellular magnetotactic bacteria that featured on the covers of the 2022 edition of The ISME Journal. The image was produced by Schaible and co-workers under the group\u2019s NASA awards.<\/div>\n
Roland Hatzenpichler \/ Montana State University<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In a recent study, NASA-supported researchers gained new insight into the lives of bacteria that survive by grouping together as if they were a multi-cellular organism. The organisms in the study are the only bacteria known to do this in this way, and studying them could help astrobiologists explain important steps in the evolution of life on Earth.<\/p>\n

The organisms in the study are known as \u2018multicellular magnetotactic bacteria,\u2019 or MMB. Being magnetotactic means that MMB are part of a select group of bacteria that orient their movement based on Earth\u2019s magnetic field using tiny \u2018compass needles\u2019 in their cells. As if that wasn\u2019t special enough, MMB also live bunched up in collections of cells that are considered by some scientists to exhibit \u2018obligate\u2019 multicellularity, which is the trait the new study is focused on.<\/p>\n

In biology, obligate<\/em> means that an organism requires something for survival. In this case, it means that single cells of MMB cannot survive on their own. Instead, cells live as a consortium of multiple cells that behave in many ways like a single multicellular organism. This requirement to live together means that when MMB reproduce, they do so by replicating all the cells in the consortium at once, doubling the total number of cells. This large group of cells then splits into two identical consortia.<\/p>\n

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\"To<\/a><\/figure>
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Electron microscopy image and cartoon of a MMB consortium, highlighting its characteristics features that includes a hollow space at the center of the cell consortium.<\/div>\n
George Shaible et al. PLOS Biology 2024<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

MMB are the only example of bacteria that are known to live like this. Many other bacteria clump together as simple aggregates of single cells. For instance, cyanobacteria clump together in colonies and form structures like stromatolites or biofilms that are visible to the naked eye. However, unlike MMB, these cyanobacteria can also survive as single, individual cells.<\/p>\n

In the new study, scientists have revealed even more complexity in the relationships between MMB cells. First, contrary to long-held assumptions, individual cells within MMB consortia are not genetically identical, they differ slightly in their genetic blueprint. Further, cells within a consortium exhibit different and complementary behavior in terms of their metabolism. Each cell in an MMB consortium has a role that contributes to the survival of the entire group. This behavior is similar to how individual cells within multicellular organisms behave. For example, human bodies are made up of tens of trillions of cells. These cells differentiate into specific cell types with different functions. Bone cells are not the same as blood cells. Fat cells that store energy are different from the nerve cells that store and transmit information. Each cell has a role to play, and together they make up a single living body.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"To<\/a><\/figure>
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The proposed life cycle of multicellular magnetotactic bacteria (MMB). Credit: George Shcaible<\/div>\n
George Schaible<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The evolution of multicellularity is one of the major transitions in the history life on our planet and had profound effects on Earth\u2019s biosphere. In the wake of its appearance, life developed novel strategies for survival that led to entirely new ecosystems. As the only example of bacteria that exhibit obligate multicellularity, MMB provide an important example of possible mechanisms behind this profound step in life\u2019s evolutionary history on Earth.<\/p>\n

The study<\/a>, \u201cMulticellular magnetotactic bacteria are genetically heterogeneous consortia with metabolically differentiated cells,\u201d was published in PLOS Biology. The work was supported through the NASA Exobiology program and the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) program.<\/p>\n

For more information on NASA Astrobiology, visit:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/astrobiology.nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

-end-<\/p>\n

News Media Contacts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karen Fox \/ Molly Wasser<\/p>\n

Headquarters, Washington<\/p>\n

202-358-1600<\/p>\n

karen.c.fox@nasa.gov<\/a>\u00a0\/ molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

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In a recent study, NASA-supported researchers gained new insight into the lives of bacteria that survive by grouping together as if they were a multi-cellular organism. The organisms in the study are the only bacteria known to do this in this way, and studying them could help astrobiologists explain important steps in the evolution of [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16009],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-194687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-astrobiology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=194687"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194688,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194687\/revisions\/194688"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=194687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=194687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=194687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}