Kamikaze bacteria illustrate evolution of co-operation

From News at Nature - Most Recent:

Suicidal sacrifice themselves to allow their clones to get a foothold in the gut. Bacteria can commit suicide to help their brethren establish more damaging infections — and scientists think that they can explain how this behaviour evolved. The phenomenon, called self-destructive cooperation, can help bacteria such as Salmonella typhimurium and Clostridium difficile to establish a stronghold in the gut. By studying mice infected with S. typhimurium, researchers from Switzerland and Canada have now demonstrated how this 'kamikaze' behaviour arose.

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