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INFLAMMASOMES. "Perhaps the best piece of evidence in favor of an origin of apoptosis in the context of host defense is the fact that apoptosis‐initiating complexes such as the apoptosome and immunity‐activating complexes such as the inflammasomes are very similar to each other." https://celldeath.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/lopezself_munoz.pdf View in LinkedIn

DEATH AS CARNAGE? "A significant fraction of the cells that are generated in C. elegans are subsequently eliminated by programmed cell death: about 12% during somatic development, even more in the germ line. Many a student of C. elegans, impressed by the efficiency and finesse of its development, has marveled at this apparent waste of energy." https://lnkd.in/dVeZ2yE View in LinkedIn

CHEATERS. "The origins of a suicidal program in single‐celled organisms are hard to understand, because the cells that acquired the ability to kill themselves would likely have a disadvantage and the emergence of “cheaters” with mutant genes would impair the maintenance of such a program. However, the emergence of such a process could be explained in the context of an infection." https://celldeath.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/lopezself_munoz.pdf View in LinkedIn

AUTOPHAGY. "Potential convergence on the autophagic death phenotype also indicates that death-promoting mechanisms may have been selected for in unicells. The autophagic death phenotype and elements of its molecular pathway have been described in evolutionarily diverse, unrelated unicellular eukaryotes such as the stramenopiles, the kinetoplastids and the social amoebae." View in LinkedIn

PROKARYOTIC DEATH GENES. "The caspase gene super-family is involved in cell death in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, suggesting that it is functionally conserved and arose early in prokaryote evolution." View in LinkedIn

SELFISH MOBILE GENETIC ELEMENTS. "In some cases, this peculiar form of selection may explain the function and evolution of genes for unicell POD. When a cell has low chances for reproduction, POD and the transfer of genes from the dying cell to a new host can save the genes. This process may be associated with occurrence of new mutations in the transferred genes and their improved ability to survive in the new host." (POD = programmed organismal death). View in LinkedIn

GREY ZONE CREATURES. "In eukaryotes as well, the distinction between unicellular and multicellular is not always completely clear. For example, the social amoeba, Dictyostelium discoidium, is unicellular during part of its life cycle, but upon starvation, cells aggregate and develop into a multicellular motile slug, then fruiting body. Stalk cell death is programmed and is characterized by some classic features of POD." (POD = programmed organismal death). View in LinkedIn

DEATH GLUE. "Recent studies have revealed that the regulated death of bacterial cells is important for biofilm development. Following cell death, a sub-population of the dead bacteria lyse and release genomic DNA, which then has an essential role in intercellular adhesion and biofilm stability." https://lnkd.in/dm2ekKx View in LinkedIn

BIOFILMS. "Some groups of bacterial cells are functionally organized. In lamentous cyanobacteria such as Calothrix and Trichodesmium, poor conditions induce POD in some cells. Because the lament often breaks up as a result, the function of POD in this system could be filament dispersal in response to unfavorable environmental conditions." (POD = programmed organismal death). View in LinkedIn

REF FOR TODAY’S POST. Are Internal, Death-Promoting Mechanisms Ever Adaptive?" "John W Pepper, Deborah E Shelton, Armin Rashidi and Pierre M Durand" "Journal of Phylogenetics & Evolutionary Biology View in LinkedIn