Why are so many more phyla of Gram-negative bacteria than of Gram-positives (at least in the more conventionally used phylogenetic schemes)?
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The correct answer to the question, I think, was given by Jonathon Badger: there are more Gram-negative parasites of man than Gram-positive.
The concept of “complexity” in prokaryotes is very slippery. I think the only possible measure of it is genome size. In that case, there are examples of “complex” prokaryotes among Gram-positives (like Streptomyces) as well as among Gram-negatives (like Stigmatella).
On the other hand, when you get to eukaryotes — with two or even three different genomes in a single cell, and with translation physically separated from transcription, and with organelles like nuclei present — “complexity” requires different criteria. Maybe Wallace Arthur’s book on evo-devo, Creatures of Accident, gives some good ideas.
Posted by: stan zahler | April 16, 2007 at 03:50 PM