Some of these TED talks are real interesting. Usually short and to the point. Once in a while I find a real gem because I can understand what's being talked about. I've heard it said that we're nothing more than a dinner plate for the microbial world but they're not just simple little directionless life forms, there's a lot of order to them including communication amongst not only their own but with other microbes as well. This talk also touches on a new era in immunology.....very cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXWurAmtf78
Oh, I loved that, Zinman. Very interesting!
Thanks!
The idea of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria (and archaea) suggests that they don't evolve the same way that other organisms do.
In most organisms, an individual's genetic characteristics are a product of its ancestry. Phylogenies are constructed by examining shared derived characteristics and by constructing hypothetical trees showing how the traits were seemingly passed down.
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_08
But... if a bacterium's genetic complement isn't derived solely from the bacteria that earlier divided to produce it, but is derived as well from surrounding bacteria in the environment (not necessarily even bacteria of the same species) that exchanged genetic material with that bacterium or with its ancestors, then constructing phylogenies using shared genomic similarities becomes much more difficult.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizontal_gene_transfer
Since bacteria replicate (clone), rather than reproduce, horizontal gene transfer may be the closest analog to sex among bacteria.