The calculative nature of microbial biofilms and bioaggregates

Autores/as

  • Douglas E. Caldwell Department of Applied Microbiology and Food Science, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Palabras clave:

biofilms, bioaggregates, levelsof organization, community structure, biological consortia

Resumen

Biological proliferation isopt imized at variouslevels of organization, including the molecule (e.g. nucleic acids, prions), the cell (e.g. prokaryotic cells, eukaryotic cells), and the community (e.g. microbial biofilms, bioaggregates). Although it was initially assumed that this occurred through the genesis of information within DNA alone, it now appearsthat innovative design originates at other levels of organization in addition to DNA. For example, the recombination of community structures affects the proliferation rate of genetic structures; and the recombination of genetic structures affects the proliferation rate of community structures. This feedback mechanism computes compromises between the form and function of both community and nucleic acid. A nested series of proliferating objects (e.g. genetic structure, cell structure, community structure) is thus capable of continually updating the form of each object in the series. This accounts for the calculative nature of prokaryotic cells, eukaryotic cells, biofilms, bioaggregates, microbial consortia, and most other complex adaptive systems.

Biografía del autor/a

Douglas E. Caldwell, Department of Applied Microbiology and Food Science, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Department of Applied Microbiology and Food Science, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

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Publicado

2010-09-21

Número

Sección

Review Articles