The Thiomargarita magnifica organism is almost 50 times bigger than any other known giant bacteria and is the first enormous bacterium to be visible to the unaided eye.

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The Thiomargarita magnifica organism is almost 50 times bigger than any other known giant bacteria and is the first enormous bacterium to be visible to the unaided eye.

Digital Desk: In a significant development, researchers have found the largest bacterium in the Caribbean, which is a creature that resembles vermicelli. In contrast to most bacteria, which are minuscule, this particular creature is large enough to be seen with the unaided eye.

It is over a centimetre long and around the length of a human eyelash. A typical bacterial species has a length of 1 to 5 micrometres. This species typically measures 10,000 micrometres, or four tenths of an inch or one centimetre, in length.

Single-celled creatures known as bacteria are found almost everywhere on the globe and are essential to its ecosystems and the majority of living beings. The first living things on Earth are believed to have been bacteria, which have remained structurally simple for billions of years. Only a small percentage of the bacteria that are abundant in human bodies cause disease.

The Thiomargarita magnifica organism is almost 50 times bigger than any other known giant bacteria and is the first enormous bacterium to be visible to the unaided eye.

The discovery is described in depth in a report that was published in the journal Science. Researchers estimate that the bacterium's typical cell length is above 9,000 micrometres.

The authors discovered highly polyploid cells with compartmentalised DNA and ribosomes using a variety of imaging techniques. The Candidatus Thiomargarita magnifica bacterium's single cells, though tubular and thin, stretched more than a centimetre in length, according to the study.

In 2009, co-author Olivier Gros, a biologist at the University of the French West Indies and Guiana, discovered the first instance of this bacterium adhering to submerged mangrove leaves in the Guadeloupe archipelago. But because of its very large size—these bacteria typically reach a length of a third of an inch—he didn't immediately realise it was a bacterium (0.9 centimeters). Genetic testing later revealed that the organism was only one bacterium cell.

Gros also discovered bacteria in the wetlands, adhering to glass bottles, pebbles, and oyster shells.

The cell has a shape that is unusual for bacteria, according to the researchers, but they have not yet been able to develop it in lab culture. One significant distinction is that it includes a sizable central compartment, or vacuole, which enables some cell functions to take place there rather than all across the cell.

The reason the bacteria is so enormous is unknown to the researchers, although co-author Volland proposed that it might be an adaptation to help it avoid being eaten by smaller creatures.

This discovery is incredible. We should never, ever underestimate microorganisms, "Petra Levin, a microbiologist at Washington University in St. Louis who was not involved in the study, told the AP. It raises the question of how many of these huge bacteria are out there.