Kamikaze bacteria illustrate evolution of cooperation

sea-maid submitted, created time 2 months 3 weeks (www.nature.com)

Bacteria can commit suicide to help their brethren establish more damaging infections — and scientists think that they can explain how this behaviour evolved.

The phenomenon, called self-destructive cooperation, can help bacteria such as Salmonella typhimurium and Clostridium difficile to establish a stronghold in the gut.

Keywords: TTSS-1 self-destructive cooperation altruism cooperation bacteria