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Magrum, L. J.

Publications and source records attributed to Magrum, L. J..

Are extreme halophiles actually 'bacteria'

Comparative cataloging of the 16S rRNA of Halobacterium halobium indicates that the organism did not arise, as a halophilic adaptation, from some typical bacterium. Rather, H. halobium is a member of the Archaebacteria, an ancient group of organisms that are no more related to typical bacteria than they are to eucaryotes.

Magrum, L. J.↗

An ancient divergence among the bacteria

The 16S ribosomal RNZs from two species of met methanogenic bacteria, the mesophile Methanobacterium ruminantium and the thermophile Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum, have been characterized in terms of the oligonucleotides produced by digestion with T1 ribonuclease. These two organisms are found to be sufficiently related that they can be considered members of the same genus or family. However, they bear only slight resemblance to 'typical' Procaryotic genera; such as Escherichia, Bacillus and Anacystis. The divergence of the methanogenic bacteria from other bacteria may be the most ancient phylogenetic event yet detected - antedating considerably the divergence of the blue green algal line for example, from the main bacterial line.

Balch, W. E.↗