Bacteria as Multicellular Organisms

Martin Dworkin James Allen Shapiro

ISBN 10: 0195091590 / ISBN 13: 9780195091595

Published by Oxford University Press OUP, 1997

pp. 466. Seller Inventory # 262272645

Synopsis:

Bacteria as Multicellular Organisms is the first book devoted specifically to multicellular aspects of bacterial life. Contrary to conventional wisdom, which treats bacteria as autonomous single cells, this book shows how bacteria are sentient, interactive organisms with an unexpectedly broad repertoire of chemical and physical mechanisms for signaling each other and organizing themselves into multicellular aggregates with novel properties. The book has been compiled from reports by specialists in a variety of disciplines from genetics and microbiology to environmental engineering and biotechnology. This interdisciplinary approach reflects the growing importance of bacteria as key experimental material for investigating phenomena common to many fields in contemporary science: communication, complexity, self-organization, and pattern formation. The impact of bacterial multicellularity will affect such diverse areas as evolutionary population biology, non-linear dynamics, and information science.

About the Author: James A. Shapiro is at University of Chicago. Martin Dworkin is at University of Minnesota School of Medicine.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Bacteria as Multicellular Organisms
Publisher: Oxford University Press OUP
Publication Date: 1997
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: New