Cell colony

A cell colony is an association of mostly similar single-celled cells , which occurs in protophytes and prokaryotes , and which are often connected to one another by a gelatinous shell and cell plasma . Since they arise from continued cell division, the number of integrated cells is usually a power of two . With simple colonies, the cells can also survive separately.

The flagellum carrier Gonium is closely related to Chlamydomonas and forms plate-shaped colonies of 4 to 16 cells. All cells of the green alga can divide to produce new colonies. Eudorina forms spherical colonies made up of 32 cells.

An example of a highly organized cell colony is the globular alga Volvox , which already has a close connection and division of labor between cells ( cell differentiation ). Cell colonies are therefore also regarded as an intermediate link between single cells and multicellular cells .

literature

• Scherf, Gertrud: Dictionary of Biology. dtv, 1997. ISBN 3-423-32500-3