Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Volland, Jean-Marie
• Gonzalez-Rizzo, Silvina
• Gros, Olivier
• Tyml, Tomáš
• Ivanova, Natalia
• Schulz, Frederik
• Goudeau, Danielle
• Elisabeth, Nathalie H.
• Nath, Nandita
• Udwary, Daniel
• Malmstrom, Rex R.
• Guidi-Rontani, Chantal
• Bolte-Kluge, Susanne
• Davies, Karen M.
• Jean, Maïtena R.
• Mansot, Jean-Louis
• Mouncey, Nigel J.
• Angert, Esther R.
• Woyke, Tanja
• Date, Shailesh V.

Titel

A centimeter-long bacterium with DNA contained in metabolically active, membrane-bound organelles

Ist Teil von

• Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 2022-06, Vol.376 (6600), p.1453-1458

Ort / Verlag

Washington: The American Association for the Advancement of Science

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Cells of most bacterial species are around 2 micrometers in length, with some of the largest specimens reaching 750 micrometers. Using fluorescence, x-ray, and electron microscopy in conjunction with genome sequencing, we characterized Candidatus ( Ca. ) Thiomargarita magnifica, a bacterium that has an average cell length greater than 9000 micrometers and is visible to the naked eye. These cells grow orders of magnitude over theoretical limits for bacterial cell size, display unprecedented polyploidy of more than half a million copies of a very large genome, and undergo a dimorphic life cycle with asymmetric segregation of chromosomes into daughter cells. These features, along with compartmentalization of genomic material and ribosomes in translationally active organelles bound by bioenergetic membranes, indicate gain of complexity in the Thiomargarita lineage and challenge traditional concepts of bacterial cells. A magnificent megabacterium We usually think of bacteria as microscopic isolated cells or colonies. Sampling a mangrove swamp, Volland et al . found an unusually large, sulfur-oxidizing bacterium with a complex membrane organization and predicted life cycle (see the Perspective by Levin). Using a range of microscopy techniques, the authors observed highly polyploid cells with DNA and ribosomes compartmentalized within membranes. Single cells of the bacterium, dubbed Candidatus Thiomargarita magnifica, although thin and tubular, stretched more than a centimeter in length. —MAF Candidatus Thiomargarita magnifica contains compartmentalized genomic material and disrupts conceptions of microbial morphology.