Since single cells have to stop feeding in order to divide, this division of labour allows faster growth.Īs the early multicellular organisms grew larger, some started to settle on the bottom, developing folds and internal passages to increase the surface area for feeding. This meant cells on the outside could feed while those in the centre were dividing, for instance. Other molecules made transport between the cells possible, allowing food to be shared. Later, these molecules were co-opted for use in holding cells together. King speculates that choanoflagellates might use cadherins to detect and identify bacterial prey species. At least a few of the specialised molecules that multicellular animals use for this job, called cadherins, have been found in the genome of solitary choanoflagellates by Nicole King of the University of California, Berkeley. The individual cells started to stick together more closely.
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