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Published Online July 24, 2003
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1089242

Perspectives

Submitted on July 16, 2003
Accepted on July 22, 2003

Biogeography for Bacteria

Tom Fenchel 1*

1 Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, DK.-3000 Helsingør, Denmark.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: tfenchel{at}zi.ku.dk.

Multicellular animals and plants may face geographic barriers to migration and dispersal, enabling isolated populations to diverge into different species. Because of their small size and enormous abundance, unicellular organisms are thought to be able to disperse unhindered around the world. In his Perspective, Fenchel discusses studies published here (Whitaker et al.) and elsewhere, which suggest that populations of thermophilic microorganisms have diverged over evolutionary time due to geographic isolation.


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)