Nanobacteria from blood, the smallest culturable autonomously replicating agent on Earth

摘要

Nanobacteria are the first mineral forming bacteria isolated from blood and blood products. They are coccoid cell-walled organisms with a size of 0.08-0.5µm in EM, occure in clusters, produce a biofilm containing carbonate or hydroxyl apatite and are highly resistant to heat, gamma-irradiation and antibiotics. Their growth rate is about one hunredth that of ordinary bacteria and they divide via several mechanisms. Taq polymerase was able to use their nontraditional nucleic acid as a template. 16S rRNA gene sequence results positioned them into the alpha-2 subgroup of Proteobacteria.