New bacterium roughly the size, shape of an eyelash smashes size record - Ars Technica

Clinging to sunken debris in shallow, marine mangrove forests in the French Caribbean, tiny thread-like organisms—perfectly visible to the naked eye—have earned the title of the largest bacteria ever known.

Measuring around a centimeter long, they are roughly the size and shape of a human eyelash, batting away the competition at 5,000 times the size of garden-variety bacteria and 50 times the size of bacteria previously considered giant.

The bacteria clung to the leaves, branches, oyster shells, and bottles that sunk into the tropical swamp, Gros said in a press briefing.

But years of genetic and molecular research revealed that each string is, in fact, one towering bacterial cell, genetically related to other sulfur-oxidizing bacteria.

This week, Gros and colleagues published an article in Science laying out everything they've learned about the new, enormous bacteria, which they've dubbed Candidatus (Ca.) Thiomargarita magnifica.

Scientists previously hypothesized that the size of bacteria would be limited by several factors, including a lack of intracellular transport systems, reliance on inefficient chemical diffusion, and a surface-to-volume ratio needed to satisfy energy needs.

Volland, Gros, and colleagues are still learning how—and why exactly—CaT

The next step to studying these gargantuan bacteria is for scientists to figure out how to culture them in labs.