This microscope photo provided by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in June 2022 shows thin strands of Thiomargarita magnifica bacteria cells next to a U.S. dime coin. The species was discovered among the mangroves of Guadeloupe archipelago in the French Caribbean. A team of researchers at the Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the Laboratory for Research in Complex Systems (LRC), and the Université des Antilles, characterized the bacterium composed of a single cell that is 5,000 times larger than other bacteria. Credit: Tomas Tyml/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory via AP
The world's largest bacterium has been found in a mangrove swamp.
This one is so large that it can be seen without the aid of a microscope.
Jean-Marie Volland, a marine biologist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and co-author of a paper announcing the discovery, said the bacterium is the largest known to date.
The first example of this bacterium was found in the archipelago of Guadeloupe.
He didn't know it was a bacterium because of its large size. The organisms was found to be a single cell.
Petra Levin is a microbiologist at Washington University in St Louis who was not involved in the study. It reminds us that we shouldn't underestimate the amount of giantbacteria out there.
This photo provided by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in June 2022 shows mangroves in the Guadeloupe archipelago in the French Caribbean where the Thiomargarita magnifica bacteria was discovered. A team of researchers at the Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the Laboratory for Research in Complex Systems (LRC), and the Université des Antilles, characterized the bacterium composed of a single cell that is 5,000 times larger than other bacteria. Credit: Hugo Bret/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory via AP
This microscope photo provided by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in June 2022 shows part of a Thiomargarita magnifica bacteria cell. The species was discovered among the mangroves of Guadeloupe archipelago in the French Caribbean. A team of researchers at the Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the Laboratory for Research in Complex Systems (LRC), and the Université des Antilles, characterized the bacterium composed of a single cell that is 5,000 times larger than other bacteria. Credit: Olivier Gros/Université des Antilles via AP
This microscope photo provided by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in June 2022 shows part of a Thiomargarita magnifica bacteria cell. The species was discovered among the mangroves of Guadeloupe archipelago in the French Caribbean. A team of researchers at the Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the Laboratory for Research in Complex Systems (LRC), and the Université des Antilles, characterized the bacterium composed of a single cell that is 5,000 times larger than other bacteria. Credit: Olivier Gros/Université des Antilles via AP
This photo provided by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in June 2022 shows mangroves in the Guadeloupe archipelago in the French Caribbean where the Thiomargarita magnifica bacteria were discovered. A team of researchers at the Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the Laboratory for Research in Complex Systems (LRC), and the Université des Antilles, characterized the bacterium composed of a single cell that is 5,000 times larger than other bacteria. Credit: Pierre Yves Pascal/Université des Antilles via AP
This microscope photo provided by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in June 2022 shows filaments of a Thiomargarita magnifica bacteria cell. The species was discovered among the mangroves of Guadeloupe archipelago in the French Caribbean. A team of researchers at the Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the Laboratory for Research in Complex Systems (LRC), and the Université des Antilles, characterized the bacterium composed of a single cell that is 5,000 times larger than other bacteria. Credit: Jean-Marie Volland/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory via AP
This microscope photo provided by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in June 2022 shows a filament of a Thiomargarita magnifica bacteria cell. The species was discovered among the mangroves of Guadeloupe archipelago in the French Caribbean. A team of researchers at the Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the Laboratory for Research in Complex Systems (LRC), and the Université des Antilles, characterized the bacterium composed of a single cell that is 5,000 times larger than other bacteria. Credit: Jean-Marie Volland/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory via AP
This photo provided by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in June 2022 shows mangroves in the Guadeloupe archipelago in the French Caribbean where the Thiomargarita magnifica bacteria was discovered. A team of researchers at the Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the Laboratory for Research in Complex Systems (LRC), and the Université des Antilles, characterized the bacterium composed of a single cell that is 5,000 times larger than other bacteria. Credit: Hugo Bret/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory via AP
This microscope photo provided by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in June 2022 shows part of a Thiomargarita magnifica bacteria cell. The species was discovered among the mangroves of Guadeloupe archipelago in the French Caribbean. A team of researchers at the Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the Laboratory for Research in Complex Systems (LRC), and the Université des Antilles, characterized the bacterium composed of a single cell that is 5,000 times larger than other bacteria. Credit: Olivier Gros/Université des Antilles via AP
The bacterium was attached to oyster shells and other objects in the swamp.
Scientists haven't been able to grow it in a lab culture, but they say the cell has a unique structure. It has a large central compartment that allows some cell functions to happen in a controlled environment instead of throughout the cell.
A Biologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research, who was not involved in the study, said that the acquisition of a large central vacuole helped a cell to be bigger.
The researchers don't know why the bacterium is so large, but they theorize that it might be an adaptation to avoid being eaten by smaller organisms.
More information: Jean-Marie Volland et al, A centimeter-long bacterium with DNA contained in metabolically active, membrane-bound organelles, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abb3634 Journal information: Science
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