World's biggest bacterium, 50 times bigger, found in Caribbean; can be visible with naked eye
Thiomargarita magnifica, the organism, is nearly 50 times bigger than any previous known gigantic bacteria and the first to be seen with the naked eye. A paper published in the journal Science described the discovery in full. According to the researchers, the bacteria has an average cell length of more than 9,000 micrometres.
FollowScientists have identified the Caribbean's biggest bacteria — a vermicelli-shaped critter — in a remarkable milestone. Most bacteria are minuscule, but this one is large enough to be seen with the naked eye. It's around the size of human eyelashes and about a centimetre long. A typical bacterial species is 1-5 micrometres length. This species is 10,000 micrometres (four-tenths of an inch/1 cm) long on average, but can be twice that length.
Bacteria are single-celled creatures that live almost everywhere on the earth and are essential to the planet's ecosystems and most living things. Bacteria are supposed to be the earliest species to inhabit Earth, and their structures have remained relatively basic billions of years later. People's bodies are filled with microorganisms, just a tiny percentage of which cause disease.
Thiomargarita magnifica, the organism, is nearly 50 times bigger than any previous known gigantic bacteria and the first to be seen with the naked eye. A paper published in the journal Science described the discovery in full. According to the researchers, the bacteria has an average cell length of more than 9,000 micrometres.
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"The scientists saw extremely polyploid cells with DNA and ribosomes compartmentalised within membranes using a variety of imaging methods. Single cells of the bacteria, Candidatus Thiomargarita magnifica, while being thin and tubular, stretched more than a centimetre in length," according to the report.
Scientists have not yet been able to develop it in lab culture, but the cell has an uncommon shape for bacteria, according to the researchers. One significant distinction is that it features a huge central compartment, or vacuole, which permits some cell operations to take place in a controlled environment rather than throughout the cell.
The researchers aren't sure why the bacteria is so huge, but co-author Volland speculated that it may be an adaptation to escape being eaten by smaller creatures.
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