The giant bacterium that lives in the mangroves can be up to 2 cm long and can be seen with the naked eye. According to scientists, it could be the link between microorganisms and more complex creatures such as humans.
Microorganisms, as their name suggests, should be small – microscopic. Nature, however, does not like to stick strictly to the definition. According to Science magazine, the bacteria discovered in the Caribbean is 2 cm long.
Scientists gave it a name Magnificent Thiomargarite.
In addition to changing the biologists’ view of what is possible and not by its size, an atypical organism may represent a previously unknown, evolutionary stage in the development of complex cells.
Well, living organisms are divided into two main domains – mainly bacteria, prokaryotes and eukaryotes, which include a variety of organisms from yeast to humans.
Prokaryotes have a genome in the form of free-floating DNA in the cell, while eukaryotes distinguish between DNA contained in the cell nucleus.
In addition, eukaryotic cells are divided into various complex elements – the so-called organelles.
Meanwhile, the Caribbean microbe blurs that line.
Scientists from the University of the Antilles noticed that 10 years ago, but were convinced that large, 2-centimeter structures were created as a result of joining many small cells.
The surprising facts now have emerged that Jean-Marie Volland, now of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has decided to study the bacterium. “We couldn’t believe it at first,” she says.
In addition to being gigantic, the bacterium contains two membrane structures and one of them stores DNA – somewhat similar to evolutionary eukaryotic cells.
The second structure could have allowed the bacteria to reach this large size.
For a long time it was believed that bacteria must be small, incl. because they have to exchange through the outer membrane, take up nutrients and oxygen from the environment, and remove metabolites.
The larger the size, the more difficult this transport of substances becomes – molecules cannot naturally travel long enough distances.
Meanwhile, the large vesicle that fills this bacterium compresses the contents of the bacterium into a small space close to the outer membrane.
The DNA of the microbe is also unusual. It turns out that its genome is 11 million base pairs out of 11. genes, while a typical bacterial genome has about 4 million bases and about 4 genes.
Research has also shown that some stretches of DNA are duplicated up to half a million times.
In the vesicle that stores the genome, there are also ribosomes, which are responsible for synthesizing proteins based on genetic information.
This allows for more efficient production of proteins, although separating these processes, as in more advanced cells, allows for more complex control of the protein formation process.
This is not the end of surprises.
Scientists believe that theoretically, the bacteria could grow even larger if not damaged.
Author: Marek Matacz
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