Digital student microscopes are used to magnify microscopic specimens like bacteria. Because of their very minute size, bacteria cannot be seen by the naked eye. Any large sized bacterium is noteworthy as exemplified by the original article.

The original article describes how Heide Schulz was able to stumble upon a single-celled organism that was a result of sifting sulfurous muck on the ocean floor off the coast of Namibia in Africa . It was in 1997 that Schulz was able to see this microorganism using a digital student microscope. Schulz is a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institure for marine Biology in Germany .

Due to the microorganism’s large size, it was first thought of as unhealthy. But, by studying and examining countless samples containing the same type of microorganism, it was discovered that this bacterium was robust and contains sulfur granules which makes them gleam in a white manner. According to the article, it was the biggest bacteria ever found.

Schulz was able to name the bacteria as Thiomargarita namibiensis or sulfur pearl of Namibia . The bacterium is able to reach a diameter of up to 1/30th of an inch and is seventy times bigger than the previous record-holder for the largest bacterium.

The bacterium discovered by Schulz feeds on sulfide. It oxidizes sulfide with nitrates and contains it in its vacuoles which more less makes up the bulk of its cell. This new strain also has a limited amount of cytoplasm. Since bacteria are prokaryotic, this means structurally they have a cytoplasm (tissue), a membrane and little else.

With the help of digital student microscopes, Schulz and some of her colleagues compared the sulfide-eating bacteria they found in Namibia and in South America . Upon comparison, they found out that the two strains are a close relative and has just evolved a little differently.

The strain of bacterium found in South America called thioploca, upon examination with the use of digital student microscopes, are smaller and more mobile compared to the Thiomargarita namibiensis. The latter stays only in mud, which upon examination would result to the limitation of their supply of nitrates. But, the original article explains that the bacterium solved this limitation by having a huge vacuole or storage tank which is able to store up to three months of nitrate supply.

This African bacterium also has a primary role in the maintenance of ecological balance in the ocean floor. For bottom dwelling fish and other organisms, certain amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas can be toxic to them. With their capacity to oxidize sulfide, this new strain of bacterium can keep the sulfide level down.

The role of this new strain of bacterium has a more lasting interest to scientists and researchers compared to its huge size (in reference to common bacteria). There is a lot more to be learn about the microbiological world and the news of a giant microbe is just a drop in the ocean of he unknown. Read the entire article