Images of Tiniest Living Forms on Earth Captured by Scientists

A team of scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have managed to capture microscopic views of "ultra-small bacteria" that are now believed to be the tiniest life forms on earth.

The bacteria was found in groundwater sources and has an average volume of 0.009 cubic microns (a single micron is equal to a millionth of a meter). To put it in a better context, 150,000 cells of these bacteria could be made to fit into the tip of a human strand of hair.

In a press release, the team wrote, "They're also quite odd, which isn't a surprise given the cells are close to and in some cases smaller than several estimates for the lower size limit of life. This is the smallest a cell can be and still accommodate enough material to sustain life. The bacterial cells have densely packed spirals that are probably DNA, a very small number of ribosomes, hair-like appendages, and a stripped-down metabolism that likely requires them to rely on other bacteria for many of life's necessities.

Researchers have debated the existence of this bacteria for over 20 years. The comprehensive DNA evidence along with images captured from electron microscopy have now confirmed the theory.

To gather study samples, the scientists passed ground water through layers of filters to bring it down to the size of 0.2 microns. The samples were then flash frozen and a 'cryo plunger' was deployed to transport it to the lab. The scientists then used state of the art electron microscopy to capture an image of the tiniest known bacteria on earth.

Senior Faculty member of the study, Jill Banfield said, "These newly described ultra-small bacteria are an example of a subset of the microbial life on earth that we know almost nothing about."

"They're enigmatic. These bacteria are detected in many environments and they probably play important roles in microbial communities and ecosystems. But we don't yet fully understand what these ultra-small bacteria do."