Cannibal ‘supergiant’ microbe found hunting and devouring members of own species
Yahoo • • science
Key Points:
- Scientists have discovered a new protozoan species, Euplotes gigatrox, that can drastically change its size, shape, and behavior to become a cannibalistic "supergiant" predator, hunting and consuming members of its own species.
- This transformation allows the microbe to shift from filter-feeding on bacteria as single cells to actively hunting clonal relatives as supergiants, exhibiting complex behaviors previously unseen in single-celled organisms.
- The study, published in PNAS, revealed that supergiants have distinct gene activity and protein production, indicating a unique developmental stage with significant physiological changes.
- Supergiant cells make up no more than five percent of the population and display altered movement patterns suited for hunting rather than swimming, representing a tradeoff between feeding strategies.
- These findings expand our understanding of developmental biology by showing that single-celled organisms can undergo complex developmental processes analogous to those in multicellular animals.