At 04:26 PM 2/16/97 -0700, Kevin Shreder wrote:
>Does anyone know what the largest cell on Earth is? Is it an ovum, nerve cell or a microbe?
>Also what species does it belong to?
>>Please email me with any answers you might have.
>>Thanks
>Kevin Shreder, Ph.D.
>kshreder at ucsd.edu>>
This is an interesting question. An ovum is definitely 'large' but not that large. If a multinucleated coenocyte may be considered as a single cell, then a fungal hypha may be larger than an ovum. However, the fibrous cells that make up the supporting matrix of the vuscular bundles of certain plants ( eg. Gossypum sp. and certain types of hemp) are known to be several cm's long. But, these cells would eventually lose their nuclei and so be essentially dead.
Anyway, I'd like to know too.
Hiranya
Dr. Hiranya Sankar Roychowdhury
Plant Genetic Engineering Lab.
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM 88003
Ph. (505) 646-5785
hroychow at nmsu.edu
