Both physiological and evolutionary criteria of biological individuality are underpinned by the idea that an individual is a functionally integrated whole. However, a precise account of functional integration has not been provided so far, and current notions are not developed in the details, especially in the case of composite systems. To address this issue, this paper focuses on the organisational dimension of two representative associations of prokaryotes: biofilms and the endosymbiosis between prokaryotes. Some critical voices have been raised against the thesis that biofilms are biological individuals. Nevertheless, it has not been investigated which structural and functional obstacles may prevent them from being fully integrated physiological or evolutionary units. By contrast, the endosymbiotic association of different species of prokaryotes has the potential for achieving a different type of physiological integration based on a common boundary and interlocked functions. This type of association had made it possible, under specific conditions, to evolve endosymbionts into fully integrated organelles. This paper therefore has three aims: first, to analyse the organisational conditions and the physiological mechanisms that enable integration in prokaryotic associations; second, to discuss the organisational differences between biofilms and prokaryotic endosymbiosis and the types of integration they achieve; finally, to provide a more precise account of functional integration based on these case studies.

中文翻译：

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原核集体组织的功能整合和个性

生物个体的生理和进化标准都以个体是一个功能整合的整体的观点为基础。然而，到目前为止还没有提供功能集成的精确描述，并且当前的概念没有在细节上发展，特别是在复合系统的情况下。为了解决这个问题，本文重点关注原核生物的两个代表性协会的组织维度：生物膜和原核生物之间的内共生。一些批评声音反对生物膜是生物个体的论点。然而，尚未研究哪些结构和功能障碍可能会阻止它们成为完全整合的生理或进化单位。相比之下，不同种类的原核生物的内共生关联有可能实现基于共同边界和互锁功能的不同类型的生理整合。这种类型的关联使得在特定条件下将内共生体进化成完全整合的细胞器成为可能。因此，本文有三个目的：第一，分析能够整合原核联合的组织条件和生理机制；第二，讨论生物膜和原核内共生之间的组织差异以及它们实现的整合类型；最后，根据这些案例研究提供更准确的功能集成说明。