Final answer:
In biology, the formation of a colony involves repeated cell divisions with daughter cells adhering to the parent, leading to growth without dispersion. This process results in a pile of cells that are clones of the original, a characteristic of colonial organisms exhibiting simple multicellularity.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the formation of an organism, the cells can grow on top of each other but the colony stays in the same place. This process of colony formation is achieved when repeated cell divisions occur where daughter cells adhere to their parent. Specifically, in cells with a cell wall, the adhesion between daughter cells is accomplished through the structural attributes of the cell wall itself. This pattern of growth is characteristic of colonial organisms, or those exhibiting 'simple multicellularity', where all the cells are essentially clones of the original cell and exhibit minimal differentiation. Colonial organisms can also result from individuals coming together, a form less common than the one previously mentioned. However, in this case, the colony may contain genetically diverse cells. Clear examples of colonial growth can be seen when bacterial colonies form on an agar plate. Each colony is a pile of bacterial cells that are clones of a single ancestor, visually identified by their distinctive colonial morphology. This kind of growth is essential in microbiological practices like creating pure cultures through the streak plate method.