HYPHEN-SIZED CREATURE FOUND TO BE BIGGEST GERM (NEWS ARTICLE, THE SUN)

CIA-STARGATE

PDF Scan: PDF

Open AI Summary

A recently discovered bacterium called Epulopiscium fischelsoni is the largest bacterium ever detected, measuring more than one-fiftieth of an inch in length. This bacterium defies the biological laws that limit how big a bacterial cell can grow. Researchers are excited about the potential for studying the inner workings of this bacterium, which is impossible with smaller species. The bacterium could reveal new insights into cell physiology. Scientists believe that there may be other examples of single-celled beings with macroscopic aspirations, highlighting the limited knowledge of microbial diversity. Previously, it was believed that bacteria had to remain small to extract essential molecules from their surroundings through diffusion, while higher organisms have small internal structures for transportation. However, it turns out that Epulopiscium fischelsoni has a unique cellular organization that allows for the swift movement of nutrients and oxygen.

Text

Body:  Approved For Release 2003/04/18 :CIA-RDP96-007898003900560002-7
 Naked eye able to see single-celled giant: ;?.~ g ~ ~re ~l,'the ea~-a~g~
 ~Iyphen-sized creature found to be biggest germ
 3y Natalie Angier
 Jew York 1Ymes News Service
 Flouting the scientific canon that   eth of an inch in length and possess-
 ~ll b$$   are microsco is  re-         ing a volume a million times that of
 ?earcfi~ave dlsc~ ?       ~~'~n        the common E. cola microbe, the
 ~~~~1 it can-`be seen w       e        newly discovered bacterium seems to
 ____.__    _       defy laws of biology that limit how
 ~l           m _. a   we s of an Aus-
 an  s , !s about the size of a
 hen in a newspaper, making it
 ,y far the largest bacterium ever de-
 ected.
 in measuring more than one-fifti-
 Appr
 big a simple bacterial cell can grow.
 So outsized Is the creature that
 researchers may soon be able to use
 !t to begin exploring the'Intimate de-
 tails of bacterial innards, a task im-
 possible with the tinier species of mi-
 crobes.
 a bacterium. The report of the gia~
 "It's so huge that we could stick .:bacteriumi.called Epulopiscium fist
 electrodes into it," said Esther R. An-. . elsoni, appears today in the Brltis
 gert of Indiana University in Bloom- :. Journal Na#ure.
 ington. "T'here's a world of cell physi-  "I think it's incredibly excltir
 ology that could be done with this ~.. and it's ad extremely convincing ~
 thing."    per,"said Dr. James R. Lupski ~
 The researcher, who is finishing   Baylor College of Medicine in Hou;
 her doctorate in the laboratory of Dr:   ton, who has long studied bacterl~
 Norman Pace, performed the;experl-      genetics. '"The old way of defining
 ments that demonstrated the. bacte-    bacterium was to look under a m
 rial nature of the beast.
 She showed that despite ifs ex-        See BACTERIA, 15A, Col.
 Hyphen-sized blob found
 to be world's biggest germ
 Naked eye able
 to see creature
 BACTERIA, from 1 A
 croscope, see what size it was and
 whether it stained one way or anoth-
 er. Now we're redefining life forms
 based on what kind of DNA they
 have."
 Commanding though the bacter!-
 um is,, it may not be the world's larg-
 est.
 Realizing that bacteria have the
 ability to grow beyond boundaries
 previously set for them, scientists
 may well find other examples of sin-
 gle-celled beings with macroscopic
 aspirations.
 "This type of study points to how
 little we know about microbial diver-
 sity," Ms. Angert said. "Here's this
 huge organism that seems to be a
 significant part of a fish's intestines,
 and it's Just recently been discov-
 ered. Who can say what else is out
 there waiting to be found?"
 Scientists have long believed that
 them, must rely on slow diffusion to
 wrest what they need from their sur-
 roundings. So they must remain very
 tiny to allow essential molecules to
 drift from one part of the cell to an-
 other.
 By comparison, the cells of higher
 organisms, such as yeast, algae, in-
 sects and humans, are eukaryotes
 and have small internal structures to
 ferry molecules about.
 Pulverizing the genetic material
 from the bacteria, the researchers
 multiplied the DNA into mlWons of
 copies through the use of a technique
 called polymerase chain reaction.
 They next compared the genes
 with those from many other known
 prokaryotes and eukaryotes and
 demonstrated that E. fishelsoni is a
 true bacterium.
 Indeed. when the organism was
 discovered in 1985 by Israel! re-
 searchers who found it in the intes-
 tinal tract of common brown aur-
 geonfish living in the Red Sea, they
 thought it must be an alga, protozo-
 an or other eukaryote.
 More recently, Kendall D. Clem-
 es Cook University to
 ents of
 a
 m
 J
 k
 ~
 c
 ~
 ~te~i   ;~~~,a          ~v$t
 cellular organization for swift move-      cau ht around the Great Barrier
 ment of nutrients and oxygen inside        Ree~of Australia.