Cover photograph (Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.): Colony formed by an undomesticated strain of Bacillus subtilis. In contrast to typical laboratory strains such as 168, undomesticated strains such as NCIB 3610 (shown here) form colonies of complex architecture when spotted upon minimal medium at high cell density. These colonies are constructed through a tightly regulated developmental process, the study of which has provided new insight into the nature of organized bacterial communities and how they are formed. (See related article on page 3970.)