@article {Bailey2011,
	title = {{Dimorphism in methane seep-dwelling ecotypes of the largest known bacteria}},
	journal = {ISME Journal},
	volume = {5},
	number = {12},
	year = {2011},
	pages = {1926{\textendash}1935},
	publisher = {International Society for Microbial Ecology},
	abstract = {We present evidence for a dimorphic life cycle in the vacuolate sulfide-oxidizing bacteria that appears to involve the attachment of a spherical Thiomargarita-like cell to the exteriors of invertebrate integuments and other benthic substrates at methane seeps. The attached cell elongates to produce a stalk-like form before budding off spherical daughter cells resembling free-living Thiomargarita that are abundant in surrounding sulfidic seep sediments. The relationship between the attached parent cell and free-living daughter cell is reminiscent of the dimorphic life modes of the prosthecate Alphaproteobacteria, but on a grand scale, with individual elongate cells reaching nearly a millimeter in length. Abundant growth of attached Thiomargarita-like bacteria on the integuments of gastropods and other seep fauna provides not only a novel ecological niche for these giant bacteria, but also for animals that may benefit from epibiont colonization.},
	keywords = {HOV Alvin (Human Occupied Vehicle)},
	issn = {1751-7362},
	doi = {10.1038/ismej.2011.66},
	url = {http://www.nature.com/ismej/journal/v5/n12/suppinfo/ismej201166s1.html 10.1038/ismej.2011.66},
	author = {Bailey, J V and Salman, V and Rouse, G W and Schulz-Vogt, H and Levin, L A and Orphan, V J}
}
