2022/02/18 by Jean‐Marie Volland, Silvina Gonzalez‐Rizzo, Olivier Gros +17 · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies #Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology #Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
paper · doi:10.1101/2022.02.16.480423
openalex publication_date 2022/02/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Abstract Cells of most bacterial species are around 2 µm in length, with some of the largest specimens reaching 750 µm. Using fluorescence, x-ray, and electron microscopy in conjunction with genome sequencing, we characterized Ca. Thiomargarita magnifica, a bacterium with an average cell length greater than 9,000 µm that is visible to the naked eye. We found that these cells grow orders of magnitude over theoretical limits for bacterial cell size through unique biology, 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 in daughter cells. These features, along with compartmentalization of genomic material and protein synthesis in membrane-bound organelles, indicate gain of complexity in the Thiomargarita lineage, and challenge traditional concepts of bacterial cells. One Sentence Summary Ca . T. magnifica are compartmentalized centimeter-long bacteria