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

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

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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