Scientists have discovered the world’s largest bacterium that can be seen with the naked eye. A strange bacterium has been found in Caribbean mangrove swamps. The slender white filament, roughly the size of a human eyelash, is “the largest bacterium ever known,” said Jean-Marie Woland, a marine biologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and co-author of a paper announcing the discovery. Thursday in the journal Science.
Olivier Gros, a co-author and biologist from the French West Indies and the University of Guyana, found the first example of this bacterium – nicknamed Thiomargarita magnifica, or “brilliant sulfur pearl” – clinging to submerged mangrove leaves in the archipelago of Guadeloupe . 2009.
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But he didn’t know immediately that it was a bacterium because of its surprisingly large size, more than a third of an inch (0.9 cm) long. Genetic analysis revealed that the organism was a single bacterial cell.
“It opens up the question of how many of these giant bacteria are out there — and reminds us that we should never underestimate bacteria,” said Petra Levin, a microbiologist at Washington University in St. Louis.
Gross also found bacteria attached to oyster shells, rocks and glass bottles in the swamp.
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Scientists are yet to grow it in lab culture, but researchers say the cell has a structure that is unusual for bacteria. One key difference: It has a large central compartment, or vacuole, that allows certain cell functions to take place in that controlled environment, rather than the entire cell.
Manuel Campos, a biologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research, said, “The acquisition of this large central vacuole certainly helps a cell circumvent the physical limitations … .
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The researchers said they are not sure why the bacterium is so large, but co-author Woland speculates that it may have been an adaptation to help it avoid being eaten by smaller organisms.
(with AP input)