• Question: what is the smallest microbe

    Asked by pickle to MarkF on 14 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Mark Fogg

      Mark Fogg answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Carsonella ruddii has the smallest number of genes (185) and is about 400nm (nanometres) across, which is 0.0004 of a millimetre. It lives in insects that live on plants. It’s a symbiant, which means it can’t live on its own.
      Mycobecterium genitalium is the smallest organism that can live on it’s own (free living). It only has 485 genes, but the cell is only 300nm, so in physical size, it’s smaller. It likes living in the genitals and airways of primates (humans, chimps gorillas etc)……

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