∞ generated and posted on 2016.01.12 ∞
Especially bacterial means of avoiding particularly phagocytosis-mediated gathering of food by single-celled eukaryotes.
The basic idea is that the means by which bacterial pathogens avoid especially phagocytosis as mediated by animal may not be unique to pathogens of animals. Instead, these mechanisms could serve bacteria more generally as .
In support of this , a handful of articles have been published that have looked at the potential for the exotoxin, , to serve as an anti-protist, specifically anti- agent.
It is of interest, though, that in these studies the exotoxin is by a prophage (re: lysogenic conversion) and is expressed particularly upon prophage induction, meaning that here the exotoxin serves not so much as a bacterial defense against protozoa – since induction kills the carrying bacterium – as a defense against protozoa (re: "It became necessary to destroy the village in order to save it." ).
Alternatively, the concept of inclusive fitness could conceivable apply to this situation. In this case a bacterial would display increased fitness because bacteria have sacrificed themselves, via lysogen induction, to save especially closely physically associated (e.g., as might end up in the same food vacuole within a protist together).
It is also possible that could play a role in these dynamics with phages that are released upon induction within a food vacuole not only saving themselves but at the same time infecting other, unrelated bacteria that happen to be co-located within the same food vacuole.