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Micro World

How small is Halobacterium salinarum?

Halobacterium salinarum is about 5 µm long.

What is measured: salt-loving archaeon, cell length

Halobacterium salinarum (5 µm) drawn to scale beside an E. coli bacterium (2 µm) and a red blood cell (7.5 µm)
Drawn to scale, from left to right: E. coli bacterium (2 µm), Halobacterium salinarum (5 µm) and Red blood cell (7.5 µm).

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How big is that, really?

  • As long as about 3 E. coli bacteria end to end
  • About 67% of the width of a red blood cell
  • About 4 would fit across a cloud droplet
  • About 50× the width of a flu virus

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Facts about Halobacterium salinarum

This salt-loving archaeon thrives in brine ponds so concentrated they would kill most other life.

Source: ASM Microbe Library, Halobacterium; Britannica, Archaea

Micro World

NameSizeCompared with Halobacterium salinarum
Aspergillus niger Spore4 µm0.8×
Clostridium difficile4 µm0.8×
Cryptosporidium parvum Oocyst5 µmsame size
Chlorella Algae Cell5 µmsame size
Candida albicans5 µmsame size
Halobacterium salinarum5 µmthis page
Thermus aquaticus5 µmsame size
Human T Lymphocyte7 µm1.4×
Human B Lymphocyte7 µm1.4×
Cryptococcus neoformans8 µm1.6×

Test your sense of scale

Which is bigger: Halobacterium salinarum or Aspergillus niger Spore?

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