By definition, microbes can be observed… under a microscope.
But you always need exceptions to confirm the rule, and the bacterium
Thiomargarita magnifica
is a very big exception.
This bacterium discovered in Guadeloupe is quite simply the largest known to date: it has the particularity of being visible to the naked eye!
"To give you an idea of what this represents as a difference in size compared to other bacteria, it's a bit like if a human crossed another human as high as Mount Everest"
, illustrates Jean-Marie Volland, researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (California) who co-authored the publication devoted to
T. magnifica
published in the journal
Science
.
Apart from its extraordinary size, the bacterium has also revealed a unique internal structure which opens up new perspectives in the world of bacteriology.
To arrive at these discoveries, however, the path was particularly long.
“It all started in 2009 when I noticed…
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