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4:00pm - 5:00pm
Microbiology & Immunology Seminar Series
Hosted by the Microbiology Graduate Students
Esther Angert, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Microbiology, Cornell University
Research Interests: Epulopiscium spp. are the largest known heterotrophic bacteria. Individual, cigar-shaped cells can reach lengths in excess of 600 µm; large enough to be seen with the naked eye. In terms of cell volume, Epulopiscium can be as much as a million times larger than a bacterium the size of Escherichia coli. Another unusual feature of these big bacteria is the manner in which they reproduce. While most bacteria undergo binary fission -- growing to about twice their starting size and dividing into two equivalent daughter cells -- an Epulopiscium cell can produce multiple offspring intracellularly. These internal offspring grow inside the mother cell until they completely fill the mother cell cytoplasm. The offspring cells eventually burst through the mother cell envelope and are released. Morphological and phylogenetic evidence suggests that this novel form of reproduction evolved from endospore formation. The image below shows a particularly large Epulopiscium cell that contains two large offspring.
http://micro.cornell.edu/cals/micro/research/labs/angert-lab/
Student Contact: Catlyn Blanchard
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| Location: | K-207 (Room 2-6408) |
Posted by: Corrine Aleese, Micro & Immunolgy, 7-Feb-13 11:19am ET
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