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. 1999 Apr 16;284(5413):493-5.
doi: 10.1126/science.284.5413.493.

Dense populations of a giant sulfur bacterium in Namibian shelf sediments

H N Schulz  1 , T Brinkhoff, T G Ferdelman, M H Mariné, A Teske, B B Jorgensen
Affiliations

Dense populations of a giant sulfur bacterium in Namibian shelf sediments

H N Schulz et al. Science. .

Abstract

A previously unknown giant sulfur bacterium is abundant in sediments underlying the oxygen minimum zone of the Benguela Current upwelling system. The bacterium has a spherical cell that exceeds by up to 100-fold the biovolume of the largest known prokaryotes. On the basis of 16S ribosomal DNA sequence data, these bacteria are closely related to the marine filamentous sulfur bacteria Thioploca, abundant in the upwelling area off Chile and Peru. Similar to Thioploca, the giant bacteria oxidize sulfide with nitrate that is accumulated to </=800 millimolar in a central vacuole.

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Comment in

  • Giant sulfur-eating microbe found.
    Wuethrich B. Wuethrich B. Science. 1999 Apr 16;284(5413):415. doi: 10.1126/science.284.5413.415. Science. 1999. PMID: 10232982 No abstract available.

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