Journal article
Levels of selection in biofilms: multispecies biofilms are not evolutionary individuals
- Abstract:
- Microbes are generally thought of as unicellular organisms, but we know that many microbes live as parts of biofilms - complex, surface-attached microbial communities numbering millions of cells. Some authors have recently argued in favour of reconceiving biofilms as biological entities in their own right. In particular, some have claimed that multispecies biofilms are evolutionary individuals (Doolittle 2013; Ereshefsky and Pedroso 2015). Against this view, I defend the conservative consensus that selection acts primarily upon microbial cells.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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- Files:
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(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 331.5KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1007/s10539-016-9517-3
Authors
- Publisher:
- Springer Verlag
- Journal:
- Biology and Philosophy More from this journal
- Volume:
- 31
- Issue:
- 2
- Pages:
- 191–212
- Publication date:
- 2016-02-02
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1572-8404
- ISSN:
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0169-3867
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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pubs:602582
- UUID:
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uuid:011b73f5-e3e0-4a36-a3b4-c507cf78d027
- Local pid:
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pubs:602582
- Source identifiers:
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602582
- Deposit date:
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2016-02-15
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Springer Science+Business Media
- Copyright date:
- 2016
- Notes:
- © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016. This is the accepted manuscript version of the article. The final version is available online from Springer at: [10.1007/s10539-016-9517-3]
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