Researcher searches DNA for secrets to bacteria's large size

A close-up of the tip of an Epulopiscium with the tip of a protozoan (Paramecium) and the black spots are E. coli cells. The researcher mixed E. coli and Paramecium cells in with Epulopiscium she had picked out of fish gut contents to show the relative sizes.


Researchers study bacterium big enough to see -- the Shaquille O'Neal of bacteria

May 07, 2008 | User rating: 4.5 / 5 after 16 vote(s)
Well, perhaps not quite Shaquille O'Neal. But it is Shaq-teria. The secret to an unusual bacterium's massive size -- it's the size of a grain of salt, or a million times bigger than E. coli bacteria, and big enough to see with the naked eye -- may be found in its ability to copy its genome tens of thousands of times.