HI all,
It was all just getting a bit too much for me so I have to repsond.
I think that by ultra-bacteria, you all mean unltramicrobacteria. There are
only a couple of strains of bacteria that have been isolated that fall into
this category. It is a phenotypic, and not phylogenetic grouping. They are
classed as ultramicrobacteria because their cell volume is (at a guess)
less that 10% of that of E.coli. Many other types of bacteria go through
stages when their cell volume is as small, particularly when they are in
starvation states. The majority of cells visible in soils by direct
microscopy have a miniscule cell volume, but because they grow to a much
more "normal" size when given the right nutrients, they are not classed as
ultramicrobacteria.
As for the suggestion that virus begets bacteria begets fungi.......you
might be right, but I really don't think so. There are far too many
differences between these 3 groups of "life" to suggest this sort of
relationship, and as far as I know, NO scientific evidence (DNA sequence
homology etc. etc.) to support this interesting and bizarre claim.
have fun
Paul
-----------------------------------------
Paul Taylor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
University of Melbourne
Parkville Victoria 3052
AUSTRALIA
p +61 3 9344 5698
f +61 3 9347 1540
e p.taylor7 at pgrad.unimelb.edu.au
