“This study has identified the first bacterial genes required for induction of settlement and metamorphosis of a marine invertebrate animal.”
This is an interesting genetic study as to what in the bacteria cause the induction of settlement and metamorphosis. Hooray for Nature for making this paper open so that I could read it. Though the paper focused on the genetic aspects and didn’t speculate (unless I missed it) how this connection arose evolutionarily. My speculation is that the bacteria is an environmental marker, telling the worm where to settle and grow.
Cool, huh?
