| Popis: |
The myxobacteria are an order of abundant and virtually ubiquitous soil-dwelling Deltaproteobacteria. They initially attracted scientific attention in the nineteenth century for their ability to aggregate when starved, cooperating as a population of cells to form multicellular fruiting bodies containing differentiated cell types. Later, it became apparent that myxobacteria were also predatory organisms, able to kill and consume a broad range of microbes, including both bacteria (Gram-positive and Gram-negative) and fungi. Myxobacteria are copious producers of secondary metabolites, many of which are being exploited industrially as antibiotics and cytotoxic compounds, and such metabolites are presumed to be causally involved in myxobacterial predation in the environment. |
