You are very unique. You have thoughts, feelings, and experiences of your own.
You're warm and moist, which makes you an ambulatory habitat for trillions of tiny, micro-bacteria. All of your body parts are crawling with small organisms that are too small to see or feel.
It's okay. This is the best way to go. It's possible that you wouldn't be you if you didn't have them. Some of the little microbes are pretty weird because of how they adapt to the human body.
Scientists have discovered that one of the organisms in your mouth. About half of all humans are members of Neisseriaceae, a family of microbes that includes caterpillar-shaped genera, and new research suggests that they evolved this body shape because it's better suited to the environment in the human oral Cavity.
This is a great way to learn more about the diversity in your mouth.
It's important that we understand how to develop more effective antibacterial agents to rid the body of infections.
The team co-led by cell biologists from the University of Vienna in Austria and the French National Institute of Scientific Research wrote about their work.
The Neisseriaceae family may be a good model to study these processes due to their plasticity and genetics.
It isn't the most welcoming environment for microbes to live in. Your saliva makes things very slippery because the cells lining the inside of your mouth are constantly being removed.
There are around 700 species that live in the human mouth, so it's hard for crawly things to find purchase.
Some Neisseriaceae species have developed an interesting way to increase their numbers.
The team used electron microscopes to study the shape of the bacterium.
If they could reproduce the evolution from a rod-shaped organisms to the caterpillar-shaped types of clusters that can be found in the human mouth, then they would have done a good job.
The research shows that the organisms evolved from a rod-shaped ancestors.
The longitudinal axis is where thebacteria divide.
A bit like a rolly-polly mascot, Bibendum, the individualbacteria remain attached to each other and result in a cluster wrapped in a shared outer membrane.
Some of the microbes in this small group may perform different roles that benefit the group. This might be an example of how a single celled organisms evolve into multicellular ones.
According to the researchers, multicellularity makes cooperation between cells possible, for example, in the form of division of labor.
The team was unable to replicate the clustered shape of multicellular species because they couldn't introduce all the genetic events that led to the current caterpillar shape. The work produced thinner individual cells.
According to Veyrier, the cell shape may have changed in the course of evolution to better fit in the oral Cavity.
The researchers note that genetic tools will have to be used in more detail.
The evolutionary approach could be used to study these tiny organisms and how they work, in addition to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the symbiotic relationship they have with their giant, mammal hosts.
The research has appeared in a journal.
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