Diferenciace bakteriálních kolonií Serratia marcescens

Abstract

We explain the typical shape and appearance of bacterial monocolonies grown on rich medias as an active effort of cooperating individuals. This puts each colony into the light of biological aesthetics and shows it as a unique piece of art. We understand the appearance of colonies as a manifestation of the most general dimension of Life, enabled by domestification and relaxing of the stress of natural selection. That is, what allows the colonies to experiment in their morfogeny and to resign on the functional morfogenesis. When kept in convenient conditions, aerobic bacteria tend to build complex colonies with strain specific patterns. The colonies are suprisingly well organised considering that they are built by more than 10 000 times smaller primitive unicellular organisms. In microbiology the colour and shape pattern of the colonies used to be called "the secondary metabolism". Nowadays we consider them to be an effect of the efficient microbial communication and we know, that bacteria have utilized for communication hundreds of different biochemical messages. However, we still do not understand the relevance or the aim of the formation of the colonies and their pattern. Moreover, we are also able to detect a complicated intercolonial behaviour including in some cases cooperation, agressiveness...