Scientists discover 'thousands of times larger than regular-sized' bacteria named Thiomargarita magnifica, which is described as 'Mount Everest' of microorganisms
The largest known single-celled organism is the aquatic alga Caulerpa taxifolia, reaching 15-30 cm long.
Scientists said on Thursday the bacterium, called Thiomargarita magnifica, is noteworthy not merely for its size — colossal for a single-celled organism on average about one cm long — but also because its internal architecture is unlike other bacteria. "It is thousands of times larger than regular-sized bacteria. Discovering this bacterium is like encountering a human being as tall as Mount Everest," said marine biologist Jean-Marie Volland of the US Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute and the Laboratory for Research in Complex Systems in California, a co-leader of the study published in the The bacterium has been found in several locations in Guadeloupe, a French archipelago in the Caribbean.
"Discovering this bacterium is like encountering a human being as tall as Mount Everest," said marine biologist Jean-Marie Volland. A normal bacterial species measures 1-5 micrometers long. This species averages 10,000 micrometers long, with some Thiomargarita magnifica twice that length.
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