How did multicellular life evolve? Algae and yeast give some hints

1 year ago 76

Life

Single-celled organisms that cluster and cooperate provide tantalising insights into the origins of multicellularity, suggesting this step may not be so rare after all

By Penny Sarchet

The slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum is used to study the origins of multicellularity

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New Scientist recently reported on something I’d never heard of before: Stentor coeruleus, a single-celled organism that is up to 2 millimetres in length. It is a protist – a single-celled organism that is a eukaryote, which means it has a complex internal structure and is more related to animals, plants and fungi …

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