Microbial Communities: Advantages of Multicellular Cooperation; May 3 - 5, 2002, Tucson, Arizona

American Society For Microbiology, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Microbial communities- complex, self-assembling entities composed of various types of microorganisms- profoundly affect human society in many ways. Examples include those that promote plant growth, those that are responsible for ruminant digestion, and those that carry out the controlled degradative processes used to treat sewage and break down environmental pollutants. Most microbial processes upon which the well-being of the biosphere depends are carried out by well-integrated microbial communities with a high level of structural sophistication and developmental control. While a microbial community may resemble a multicellular organism because it has a primitive circulatory system and a degree of cellular specialization, it differs from these life forms in significant ways. The community is not assembled from a single genome, as is a plant or animal, but from a large number of genomes that are programmed to cooperate in community formation. These ubiquitous communities are not killed by starvation or limited by reproductive necessities, so perhaps it should not be surprising that they are among the most successful inhabitants of all ecosystems on earth, including the most hostile and extreme. If scientists are to understand microbial communities sufficiently to control their development or to manipulate them for the benefit of society, they must understand their "embryology" and their "physiology." A colloquium entitled "Microbial Communities: Advantages of Multicellular Cooperation" will convene May 3-5, 2002, in Tucson, Arizona, to generate a consensus on the state of the field and to develop recommendations for its advancement. The colloquium will bring together experts in microbiology, bioinformatics, signaling, and ecology. Following the colloquium, a report will be prepared-in both print and electronic formats-that will be analytical and comprehensive, and will offer practical recommendations for the future.