Do bacteria reproduce by mitosis or binary fission?

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Reproducción bacteriana

Las bacterias no se dividen por mitosis; típicamente se reproducen por fisión binaria, aunque existen excepciones con fisión no binaria o divisiones múltiples. 1, 2, 3

  • Regla general (mayoría de bacterias):

    • Fisión binaria mediada por el anillo de FtsZ (“Z ring”) y el divisoma; una célula madre produce dos hijas simétricas. Esto no es mitosis (no hay huso mitótico ni envoltura nuclear). 1

  • Excepciones bien documentadas:

    • Fisión no binaria/múltiple en ciertos linajes (p. ej., Streptomyces, Corynebacterium matruchotii con divisiones simultáneas en 3–14 hijas). 4, 3
    • Bimodal en Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus: puede alternar entre fisión binaria y no binaria según el tamaño de la presa. 2

  • Pitfall a evitar:

    • No confundir fisión binaria bacteriana con mitosis eucariota; comparten “división celular” pero son procesos celulares y moleculares distintos. 1

References

3
Research

Tip extension and simultaneous multiple fission in a filamentous bacterium.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2024

4
Research

Alternatives to binary fission in bacteria.

Nature reviews. Microbiology, 2005

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