Discovered unique bacteria that live in caves and form full-fledged "bodies"

The origin of multicellular organisms isone of the most important events in the history of the Earth. Having become multicellular, some living organisms of our planet began to perform not only the basic functions of nutrition, movement and reproduction. Multicellular organisms gained the ability to live longer by replacing damaged cells, began to have larger and more diverse bodies, and also became the owners of many other advantages. Recently, Japanese scientists discovered unique bacteria in a deep cave that are able to combine and form full-fledged “bodies”. Even when assembled, they cannot be called multicellular creatures, but this find can give rise to unraveling one of the most important mysteries of our planet - the origin of multicellular organisms.

HS-3 bacteria can combine and form "bodies"

How did multicellular organisms appear?

Speaking about the fact that the emergence of multicellularorganisms is one of the key events in the evolution of life on Earth, scientists in no way exaggerate. If it were not for this, the variety of animals and plants that we see now would never have appeared in the world. And in general, if nature had not created multicellularity, humanity would not exist. Multicellularity is a very important phenomenon, but scientists still have no idea what processes caused it to occur. It seems that recently science has become one step closer to solving the problem.

Scientists still do not know how multicellular organisms appeared on Earth

Related article: Found the remains of the first multicellular creature

New to science bacteria with a unique skill

Japanese explorer Kouhei MizunoMizuno and his colleagues have been studying extremophiles for a long time. So called organisms that can live in extreme conditions like deep caves, hot springs, and even the crater "Hell's Gate". While diving into one of the deep caves of the Japanese island of Kyushu, they found bacteria new to science in the limestone walls, which were given the name HS-3. The discovery so surprised scientists that they compared the find with a meeting with alien creatures.

Location of the Japanese island of Kyushu

At first, researchers did not know about the amazingskills of bacteria HS-3. But when they placed them in a petri dish of nutrient medium, something amazing began to happen. Instead of moving apart, the bacteria began to stick together and form something like a single “body” in the form of thin threads. Every day the structure became thicker, in addition, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow. After a few more days, scientists noticed that the central part of the peculiar torso began to become dull - it was filled with microbes in the form of sticks. When the scientists added a drop of water to the Petri dish, the sticks quickly began to come out.

HS-3 bacteria first line up and then turn into what looks like a multicellular organism

Some types of bacteria can also formsimilar structures and become similar to multicellular organisms. But the structures that form the HS-3 species are very different. The most important difference lies in the fact that the constructions do not consist of identical-looking cells, they differ markedly in shape. The second important difference is the ability of the colony to quickly respond to changes in the environment, such as the appearance of water.

See also: This type of ultraviolet light can kill bacteria without harm to humans.

How bacteria survive when exposed to water

Scientists believe that the ability of microbes to formrods to get out helps HS-3 bacteria to survive in deep caves. The place where they were found is very unstable. Sometimes it is relatively dry there and the limestone walls are on the surface. But at times they are flooded by an underground river. It must be in this case that the colonies of HS-3 bacteria will use their ability - the “sticks” mentioned above rise a little higher and thereby save this peculiar organism.

Bacteria that are still unknown to science live in deep caves

Despite their similarities, HS-3 colonies cannot be namedmulticellular organisms. This is due to the fact that the cells of multicellular organisms cannot exist in isolation from others. And HS-3 bacteria do quite well on their own. Nevertheless, scientists believe that in the course of their study they will be able to answer the question of how multicellular organisms arose on Earth.

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Finally, it is worth noting that in 2022, scientistswas surprised to find that bacteria and fungi are able to combine into super-organisms and crawl over our teeth. As a result of their movement, caries develops. It is possible that this discovery will allow specialists to develop a new technology for maintaining the health of the human oral cavity. If you are interested in the details, read this article.