Abstract
THE smallest spherical cell capable of an independent existence is believed to be, in theory, 100 nm. Bodies of this size have been found by electron microscopy in cultures of mycoplasmas but they are probably inviable1,3,4. The existence of living mycoplasmas as small as 125 nm is indicated by their ability to pass through filters of known porosity5–8, but the following experiments with Mycoplasma laidlawii lead one to believe that they are similar to erythrocytes in that they have an elastic cell wall and can therefore be squeezed through membrane filters with pores much smaller than their own diameters. They may, therefore, be larger than the smallest values quoted for mycoplasmas in the literature.
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LEMCKE, R. Sizing Small Organisms. Nature 229, 492–493 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/229492a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/229492a0
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