Question

Who discovered the biggest bacteria in 1997?
(a)H.N Schulz
(b)A.K. Chakrawarti
(c)Carl Sagan
(d)None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Even visible to the naked eye, newly discovered bacteria named Thiomargarita namibiensis was discovered by a female researcher. These are the largest prokaryotic organisms yet known.

Complete answer:
-Heide Schulz of Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology found 3/4 mm wide microorganisms during a cruise with the Russian research vessel "Petr Kottsov" in sediments off the Namibian coast in Bremen.
-The bacteria survive from the sulfide produced on the seafloor.
-They store nitrate from the seawater in an "anaerobic lung".
-The cells of Thiomargarita namibiensis are spherical and are generally 0.1 - 0.3 millimeter wide but some of these bacterial cells reach up to a size of 3/4 of a millimeter.
-They shine white because of the microscopic sulfur granules inside the cells which reflect the incident light.
-They are held in line by a common mucus sheath, they look like a thin string of pearls.
-Thiomargarita namibiensis lives in an ecological niche which is oxygen-deficient but also nutrient-rich sediment.
-These can survive in this environment which is toxic for most organisms due to high levels of hydrogen sulfide.
So, the correct answer is ‘H.N Schulz’

Note: -Thiomargarita are not rare and exotic microorganisms.
-They occur in high biomass in the seafloor of Nambian sediments.
-These bacteria play an important role in the oxidation of the toxic sulfide in Namibian sediments.
-These bacteria, couple the oxidation of sulfide with the reduction of nitrate and use this as an energy source which is not accessible for most bacteria in the absence of oxygen.