Two morphologically distinct types of murine megakaryocyte (MK) colonies are present after three to seven days in soft agar culture: (a) big-cell” colonies composed of ten to 30 large, mature-appearing megakaryocytes and (b) “heterogeneous” colonies consisting of approximately 1 00 or more cells at various stages of differentiation. Cytochemical and immunocytochemical techniques were used to st...

Honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies bred for hygienic behavior were tested in a large field trial to determine if they were able to resist the parasitic mite Varroa destructor better than unselected colonies of"Starline" stock. Colonies bred for hygienic behavior are able to detect, uncap, and remove experimentally infested brood from the nest, although the extent to which the behavior actua...

We present a colony assay system that allows in situ identification of human basophil/mast cell (basophil) colonies. In methylcellulose culture, in the presence of phytohemagglutinin-leukocyte conditioned media (PHA-LCM), human peripheral blood and bone marrow cells form colonies that can be distinguished by their unique morphological characteristics. Pure basophil colonies are diffuse, small c...

Patterning of different cell types in embryos is a key mechanism in metazoan development. Communities of microorganisms, such as colonies and biofilms also display patterns of cell types. For example, in the yeast S. cerevisiae, sporulated cells and pseudohyphal cells are not uniformly distributed in colonies. The functional importance of patterning and the molecular mechanisms that underlie th...

The purpose of the studies described here was to define the biological behavior of the various clonally transformed colonies observed in cultures of carcinogen-exposed rat tracheal epithelial cells. As described in the preceding paper (H. Kitamura et al., Cancer Res., 46: 4631-4641, 1986), these colonies fall into four morphologically distinct categories. In the studies reported here we found t...

Variation in queen number alters the genetic structure of social insect colonies, which in turn affects patterns of kin-selected conflict and cooperation. Theory suggests that shifts from single- to multiple-queen colonies are often associated with other changes in the breeding system, such as higher queen turnover, more local mating, and restricted dispersal. These changes may restrict gene fl...

During cheese processing and ripening, bacteria develop as colonies. Substrates and metabolites must then diffuse either from or into the colonies. Exploring how the inner cells of the colony access the substrates or get rid of the products leads to study the diffusion of solutes inside bacterial colonies immobilized in cheese. Diffusion limitations of substrates within the bacterial colony cou...