Scientists discover a bacteria that breaks all previous size limits

A team of researchers have discovered a bacteria that has broken the theoretical limits of how big bacteria can grow.

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The bacteria was found swimming in the French Caribbean archipelago of Guadeloupe, and according to a study that has been published in Science, the bacteria measured more than a centimeter in length. The researchers describe the bacteria in their paper as "unusually large" and wrote that it's a sulfur-oxidizing bacterium that has a complex membrane organization.

For reference, the cells in most bacterial species are approximately two micrometers in length, with some of the larger specimens reaching up to 750 micrometers. The researchers were able to measure the cells in the bacteria that was found in Guadeloupe and discovered it was a whopping 9,000 micrometers - even visible to the naked eye. Jean-Marie Volland, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said that the bacteria is 5,000 times bigger than most bacteria.

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The bacteria is shaped like a human eyelash and reportedly features organelles, which, according to Genetic Engineering and Biotech News, is meant to be impossible. Furthermore, Volland says that the big surprise with the discovery was that copies of its genome within a cell are actually contained within a larger membrane structure, which is "very unexpected for a bacterium." Notably, the massive single cells contain three times more genes than most bacteria, demonstrating a new level of complexity for simple organisms such as bacteria.

For more information on this story, check out the official study here, or another report here.

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