Scientists have discovered the world's largest bacteria in the French Guadeloupe Islands, located in the southern Caribbean, and it is likely that it is 20 times larger than the previous record.
And the French magazine "Le Point" (Le Point) says in a report that this discovery aroused the interest of scientific bodies in Guadeloupe, and could revolutionize international research in microbiology, and these bacteria are visible to the naked eye, unlike other types of bacteria that need a microscope. To see it, it can be two centimeters in size.
In order to better understand this unique discovery, it is enough to look at the numbers.
According to France Info journalists, the largest bacterium discovered so far was a giant sulfur-reducing bacterium in Namibia, and its size was just under a millimeter, that is, it is 20 times smaller than the size of the newly discovered giant bacteria.
Very excited to share our preprint on "A centimeter-long bacterium with compartmentalized DNA in membrane-bound organelles" #microbiology #chemosynthesis #CellBiology #bacteria https://t.co/OPYIrkqz8S pic.twitter.com/sA1RDn4zpx
— Jean-Marie Volland (@JeanVolland) February 18, 2022
Bacteria called "Pearl of Sulfur"
After 10 years of research, Silvina Gonzalez, a marine biologist at the University of the Antilles (l'université des Antilles), and Professor Olivier Grou's team, a microbiologist at the University of the Antilles, have identified these bacteria as belonging to prokaryotes, single-celled organisms. Without a kernel in the form of a string.
This bacterium was found on the surface of the decaying mangrove leaves, and scientists have dubbed it the "sulfur pearl." More research is expected in the coming weeks.