The wonder of life: bacteria too big to see with the naked eye!

Un filament de Candidatus Thiomargarita magnifica, la bactérie la plus longue jamais découverte. © Jean-Marie Volland

Almost all Bacteria Invisiblethe eye Naked. Because of their small size, of the order MicronThey are visible only at microscope. Almost all, because an international team of researchers – including French people – made an incredible discovery. A bacterium or instead A megabacterium, very large Visible to the naked eye. It measures 9,000 micrometers, or 0.9 centimeters, and is isolated in collected samples. Mangroves From Guadeloupe. ” It is 5,000 times larger than most bacteria. Depending on the circumstances, it will be like Everest, one man meeting another », says Jean-Marie Volland, first authorA study published in Science.

In addition to its record size, Candidatus Thiomargarita magnificaA species Discovered in 2009, it presents a unique structure among bacteria. His Gene Contained in half a million copies and protected in a membrane-bound organelle—the genome is free-floating in most bacteria Cytoplasm. These bacteria do not Pathogens to man.

These long filaments are not worms, but the organisms megabacteria candidate Theomargarita Magnifica. © Thomas Timel

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