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News Release 12-161
New Research Suggests Bacteria Are Social Microorganisms
MIT scientists: Bacteria plays different social roles, including attacking and defending other bacteria
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![Photomicrograph in green light of bacteria.](/news/mmg/media/images/social_bacteria_f.jpg)
Scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with researchers from the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, studied whether population-level organization exists for bacteria in the wild. They assembled an all-against-all battleground for 185 closely-related, but distinct, members of an ocean-based family of bacteria called Vibrionaceae and examined about 35,000 chemical reactions to determine whether some bacteria play different social roles.
Credit: Thinkstock
![Cover of the September 7, 2012 issue of the journal Science.](/news/mmg/media/images/science_090712_f.jpg)
The researchers' work is described in the September 7, 2012 issue of the journal Science.
Credit: Copyright AAAS 2012
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