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posted by mrpg on Saturday February 23 2019, @06:36AM   Printer-friendly
from the algae dept.

The transition took place over the course of 50 weeks and was caused simply by the introduction of a predator to the environment. Time-lapse videos are available in the supplementary info.

The transition from unicellular to multicellular life was one of a few major events in the history of life that created new opportunities for more complex biological systems to evolve. Predation is hypothesized as one selective pressure that may have driven the evolution of multicellularity. Here we show that de novo origins of simple multicellularity can evolve in response to predation. We subjected outcrossed populations of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to selection by the filter-feeding predator Paramecium tetraurelia. Two of five experimental populations evolved multicellular structures not observed in unselected control populations within ~750 asexual generations.

De novo origins of multicellularity in response to predation


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  • (Score: 0) by fakefuck39 on Saturday February 23 2019, @11:18AM (5 children)

    by fakefuck39 (6620) on Saturday February 23 2019, @11:18AM (#805534)

    honest question here. there seems to be several runaway accounts - is it the same guy? I'm afraid to shit on any one of those runaway accounts since I can't remember which one of them keeps saying the dumbest shit. or is it all of them saying the dumbest shit? i finally remembered who the boat guy was, but he stopped saying stupid shit. i need something to do on the toilet damn it!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 23 2019, @01:09PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 23 2019, @01:09PM (#805551)

    There's only one. He's just very hated and occassionally very stupid, but sometimes not quite stupid.

    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday February 23 2019, @02:22PM (3 children)

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Saturday February 23 2019, @02:22PM (#805572) Journal

      Runaway is a submarine sandwich you dropped on the ground, where it picked up some grit, mud, and chunks of gravel before you picked it up and kept chewing on it.

      So, like most here.

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
      • (Score: 0) by fakefuck39 on Saturday February 23 2019, @10:15PM (2 children)

        by fakefuck39 (6620) on Saturday February 23 2019, @10:15PM (#805768)

        what the fuck is wrong with eating a sandwich that's been dropped on the floor? what are you - some kind of a girly-man little pussy? gravel is solid dietary fiber and sharpens your teeth. on a side note - i was on a morphine drip for a month. if you forget to take the stool softener, gravel cuts your asshole open on its way out and for the next year, before and after you take a shit, you have to put some antibacterial cream on your finger and shove it up your ass. so I can't eat sandwiches like that anymore.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 24 2019, @01:54AM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 24 2019, @01:54AM (#805810)

          Have you considered washing your hands?

          • (Score: 0) by fakefuck39 on Sunday February 24 2019, @02:32AM

            by fakefuck39 (6620) on Sunday February 24 2019, @02:32AM (#805813)

            Maybe I don't get it, but I'm pretty sure you're the one who doesn't get. Feel free to explain the joke before I tell you you're a retard.