News Analysis / Thiomargarita magnifica – World’s largest Bacterium
Published on: June 25, 2022
Source: The Guardian
Context:
Scientists have discovered the world's largest bacterium in a Caribbean mangrove swamp.
About
About the bacteria:
The bacterium — named Thiomargarita magnifica, or "magnificent sulfur pearl" — clinging to sunken mangrove leaves in the archipelago of Guadeloupe in 2009.
The bacterium is roughly the shape and size of an eyelash.
The bacteria appeared as long translucent centimeter-long strings on decaying leaf matter in the water.
Most bacteria are microscopic, but this one is so big it can be seen with the naked eye.
The bacterium also has a complex membrane organization and a predictable life cycle.
Different from other bacteria’s:
Bacteria are commonly thought to be “bags of enzymes,” where there is no nucleus or Golgi apparatus or any other organelles, and DNA simply floats freely through the cell.
However, T. magnifica not only contains DNA within a membrane, but also ribosomes—which create proteins—cohabitating with the genome.
The cell has a structure that's unusual for bacteria.
One key difference: It has a large central compartment, or vacuole, that allows some cell functions to happen in that controlled environment instead of throughout the cell.
Guadeloupe archipelago in the French Caribbean:
Guadeloupe, the French Caribbean tropical islands in the Lesser Antilles in the Eastern Caribbean is situated just north of Dominica and southeast of Puerto Rico.
Caribbean mangrove swamps are packed with organic matter, with microbes in the sediment degrading this matter and producing high concentrations of sulfur.
The sulfur-rich environment offers an energy source for bacteria like Thiomargarita magnifica.
The researchers named its DNA-bearing organelles "pepins" after a French word for small seeds inside fruits.
