Candidatus Uabimicrobium is a genus of free-living aquatic Gram-negative bacteria that are known to display cell eating (phagocytosis).[1] As of 2026, there are only two species. The first species, Ca. Uabimicrobium amorphum was discovered from the Republic of Palau. Collected in 2015 and described in 2019,[2] it became the first known bacteria that can eat other microbes through phagocytosis.[3]
| Uabimicrobium | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Uabimicrobium amorphum | |
Scientific classification  (Candidatus) | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Kingdom: | Pseudomonadati |
| Phylum: | Planctomycetota |
| Class: | "Ca. Uabimicrobiia" |
| Order: | "Ca. Uabimicrobiales" |
| Family: | "Ca. Uabimicrobiaceae" |
| Genus: | "Ca. Uabimicrobium" (Shiratori et al. 2019) Oren & Garrity 2021 |
| Type species | |
| "Ca. Uabimicrobium amorphum" (Shiratori et al. 2019) Oren & Garrity 2021 | |
| Species | |
| |
The second species, Ca Uabimicrobium helgolandensis was discovered from Helgoland Island, North Sea, in 2024.[4] These two bacteria with their ability to engulf and ingest (endocytosis) whole bacteria are taken as evidence of primary symbiogenesis that led to the formation of eukaryotic cells.[5][6]
References
edit- ↑ Körner, Marco (2024-08-28). "Research team discovers 'impossible' unicellular organism". Phys.org. Archived from the original on 2025-11-28. Retrieved 2026-03-27.
- ↑ Shiratori, Takashi; Suzuki, Shigekatsu; Kakizawa, Yukako; Ishida, Ken-ichiro (2019-12-11). "Phagocytosis-like cell engulfment by a planctomycete bacterium". Nature Communications. 10 (1): 5529. Bibcode:2019NatCo..10.5529S. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13499-2. PMC 6906331. PMID 31827088.
- ↑ Odelgard, Anna; Hägglund, Emil; Guy, Lionel; Andersson, Siv G E (2024-04-02). "Phylogeny and Expansion of Serine/Threonine Kinases in Phagocytotic Bacteria in the Phylum Planctomycetota". Genome Biology and Evolution. 16 (4) evae068. doi:10.1093/gbe/evae068. PMC 11032199. PMID 38547507.
- ↑ Wurzbacher, Carmen E.; Hammer, Jonathan; Haufschild, Tom; Wiegand, Sandra; Kallscheuer, Nicolai; Jogler, Christian (2024-08-27). ""Candidatus Uabimicrobium helgolandensis"—a planctomycetal bacterium with phagocytosis-like prey cell engulfment, surface-dependent motility, and cell division". mBio. 15 (10): e02044–24. doi:10.1128/mbio.02044-24. PMC 11481906. PMID 39189742.
- ↑ Speijer, Dave (2025-08-29). "Eukaryogenesis From FECA to LECA: Radical Steps Along the Way". BioEssays. 47 (11) e70063. doi:10.1002/bies.70063. ISSN 0265-9247. PMC 12550549. PMID 41024490.
- ↑ Thomson, Jess (2024-08-29). "Microbiologists Discover 'Impossible' Pac-Man Bacteria". Newsweek.