Rinsed Thioploca bundles from the Chilean Coast. The gelatinous,
transparent sheaths harbor white cell filaments. The larger filaments,
of the species Thioploca araucae, have a diameter of 40 µm.
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Thioplaca forms mats with a huge biomass thousands of kilometers along the coast of Chile. The cell filaments migrate inside their sheaths between the upper, oxic and the lower, anoxic and sulfide-containing layers.
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Giant sulfur bacteria
