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Review
. 2007 Dec;10(6):638-43.
doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2007.09.006. Epub 2007 Oct 30.

Thinking about Bacillus subtilis as a multicellular organism

Claudio Aguilar  1 , Hera Vlamakis, Richard Losick, Roberto Kolter
Affiliations
Review

Thinking about Bacillus subtilis as a multicellular organism

Claudio Aguilar et al. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2007 Dec.

Abstract

Initial attempts to use colony morphogenesis as a tool to investigate bacterial multicellularity were limited by the fact that laboratory strains often have lost many of their developmental properties. Recent advances in elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying colony morphogenesis have been made possible through the use of undomesticated strains. In particular, Bacillus subtilis has proven to be a remarkable model system to study colony morphogenesis because of its well-characterized developmental features. Genetic screens that analyze mutants defective in colony morphology have led to the discovery of an intricate regulatory network that controls the production of an extracellular matrix. This matrix is essential for the development of complex colony architecture characterized by aerial projections that serve as preferential sites for sporulation. While much progress has been made, the challenge for future studies will be to determine the underlying mechanisms that regulate development such that differentiation occurs in a spatially and temporally organized manner.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Color plate containing the eleven figures accompanying Koch’s (figs 1–7) and Cohn’s (figs 8–11) papers from 1877 [3,4]. Original volume provided courtesy of the Farlow Botanical Library, Harvard University.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Examples of the differences in colony morphology between undomesticated and domesticated strains of three bacterial species.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Time course of B. subtilis colony morphogenesis.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Diagram outlining the genetic circuitry regulating the transition between motile cells and matrix-producing cells.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Shapiro JA. Bacteria as Multicellular Organisms. Scientific American. 1988;258:82. • For those interested in the history of how the concept of bacterial multicellularity emerged in the last two decades this is a required starting point. - PubMed
    1. Shapiro JA, Dworkin M, editors. Bacteria as Multicellular Organisms. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1997.
    1. Koch R. Untersuchungen über bacterien. V Die aetiologie der milzbrand-krankheit, begründet auf die entwicklungsgeschichte der. Bacillus anthracis Beiträge zur biologie der Pflanzen. 1877;7:277–308.
    1. Cohn F. Untersuchungen über bacterien. IV. Beiträge zur biologie der Bacillen. Beiträge zur biologie der Pflanzen. 1877;7:249–276. • • It there is any possibility for readers to access this article in the original German, this is a must read. The amazingly accurate descriptions of the multicellular growth patterns of B. subtilis that Cohn made 130 years ago are simply breathtaking!
    1. Shapiro JA. Thinking about bacterial populations as multicellular organisms. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1998;52:81–104. - PubMed

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