Revolutionary bacteria

1998/02/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Giza zientziak

In living
beings the mutations are very varied, some favorable and others harmful. In the mutations that Escherichia coli bacteria suffer, the probability of being harmful is 10,000 times higher than that of being beneficial. That's why it has few mutations. However, about 1% of these microorganisms are “mutants”, that is, they have a too high mutation rate.

They are the ones who genetically revolutionize bacteria. The only possibility of bacterial evolution is mutation, which is 1% that assumes all risks. These few bacteria allow the group to adapt to environmental changes. In a way, they are genetic innovators.

Biologists Miroslav Radman and François Taddei at the University of Paris have performed computer simulations and concluded that the higher the mutation rate, the faster a favorable mutation is achieved.