Thiomargarita namibiensis

All unapproved Citizendium articles may contain errors of fact, bias, grammar etc. A version of an article is unapproved unless it is marked as citable with a dedicated green template at the top of the page, as in this version of the 'Biology' article. Citable articles are intended to be of reasonably high quality. The participants in the Citizendium project make no representations about the reliability of Citizendium articles or, generally, their suitability for any purpose. This article is currently being developed as part of an Eduzendium student project in the framework of a course entitled Microbiology 201 at Queens College, CUNY. The course homepage can be found at CZ:Biol 201: General Microbiology. For the course duration, the article is closed to outside editing. Of course you can always leave comments on the discussion page. The anticipated date of course completion is May 21, 2009. One month after that date at the latest, this notice shall be removed. Besides, many other Citizendium articles welcome your collaboration!

Description and significance

Thiomargarita namibiensis is the largest known bacterium and was discovered in 1997. It is also referred to as the “Sulfur pearl of Namibia” because it looks like a large pearl made out of white globules of sulfur and was found off the coast of Namibia. The cell is generally 0.1 - 0.3 mm wide, although some become as large as 1.0 mm, and is approximately 3 million times the volume of a normal bacterium cell.

Genome structure

Once discovered scientist were able to place Thiomargarita Namibiensis in to the phylogenetic tree were they concluded that Thiomargarita Namibiensis is closing related to the bacterial genera Triploca and Beggiatoa because of the high sulfur enivorment it is able to survive in. Thiomargarita Namibiensis is from the family of bacteria known as Thiotrichaceae.

Cell structure and metabolism

Thiomargarita Namibiensis is a chemolithotroph, which means that it obtains its electrons required for the electron transport chain from nitrates rather then organic molecules. The sulfur granules found in the cytoplasm of this organism is due to the oxidation of Hydrogen Sulfide in to sulfur. Thiomargarita Namibiensis is a non-motile organism, due to this it must wait for its nitrate supply and store it for long periods of time. The cytoplasm of Thiomargarita Namibiensis lines the cell membrane, giving the bacterium the flexibility to diffuse the nitrate from its surroundings.Thiomargarita Namibiensis contains a large vacuole which is 80% of its size in its cytoplasm for the shortage of nitrates and can survive three months at a time if nitrate supply is low in its environment.

Pathology

As of current day research Thiomargarita Namibiensis is not known to be a pathogenic bacterium.

Current Research

Heide N. Schulz and Horst D. Schulz Large Sulfur Bacteria and the Formation of Phosphorite

This paper reports on the biotechnical use of Thiomarigarita Namibiensis. The paper entails the ability of Thiomarigarita Namibiensis in releasing phosphorus in to its surrounding environment. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient which remains deposited in the marine sediments. The presence of Thiomarigarita Namibiensis in the marine waters of Namibian may account for abundance of apatite in that environment. Later studies showed that under laboratory experimentation in anoxic conditions, Thiomarigarita Namibiensis released large amounts of phosphate which can be correlated to the large amount of hydroxyapatite observed by the researchers in the sediments on the Namibian marine shelf.

References

1. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/307/5708/416

2. http://www.accessexcellence.org/WN/SUA12/marg499.php

3. http://web.mst.edu/~microbio/BIO221_2005/T_namibiensis.htm

4. http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/19990318191806data_trunc_sys.shtml

5. http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewImage.do?id=5667&aid=2497

6. http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2006-06/1151465295.Mi.r.html

7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiomargarita_namibiensis