RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A centimeter-long bacterium with DNA compartmentalized in membrane-bound organelles
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.02.16.480423
DO 10.1101/2022.02.16.480423
A1 Jean-Marie Volland
A1 Silvina Gonzalez-Rizzo
A1 Olivier Gros
A1 Tomáš Tyml
A1 Natalia Ivanova
A1 Frederik Schulz
A1 Danielle Goudeau
A1 Nathalie H Elisabeth
A1 Nandita Nath
A1 Daniel Udwary
A1 Rex R Malmstrom
A1 Chantal Guidi-Rontani
A1 Susanne Bolte-Kluge
A1 Karen M Davies
A1 Maïtena R Jean
A1 Jean-Louis Mansot
A1 Nigel J Mouncey
A1 Esther Angert
A1 Tanja Woyke
A1 Shailesh V Date
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/02/18/2022.02.16.480423.abstract
AB 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 bacteriaCompeting Interest StatementSVD also serves as the CEO of Sample Exchange