#l-form

Four billion years ago, soon after the planet cooled enough for life to begin, primordial cells may have replicated and divided without protein machinery or cell walls, relying instead on just a flimsy lipid membrane. New research on bacteria examines exactly how these primitive cells could have evolved without such crucial structures.

While the vast majority of bacteria have cell walls, many bacteria can switch to a wall-free existence called the L-form state, which could mirror the structure of primordial cells. A study published Feb. 28 by Cell Press in the journal Cell reveals how bacteria in this L-form state divide and proliferate, shedding light on how the earliest forms of cellular life may have replicated.