Sir
Jean-Marc Ghigo in his interesting Letter (Nature 412, 442–445; 2001) states the oft-repeated canard that “most natural bacterial populations are found associated with environmental surfaces”. This is not true.
Bacteria are the most numerous organisms in the biosphere. A quick look at a sample from the oceans, the largest habitat on Earth, would reveal individual bacterial cells (when stained for their DNA) scattered across the darkened field, like stars on a clear night.
Of course there are bacteria in biofilms, but in the biosphere these are the exception rather than the rule. Their more numerous free-living brethren may tell us more about why these bacteria live in such an unnatural state.
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Kirchman, D. Bacteria in biofilms are living an unnatural life. Nature 413, 772 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35101772
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35101772