"ultra-small bacterial cells"

[chris0033547]

Just a research paper I found in the news today:

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150227...s7372.html

Here's a more detailed article:

http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2015/02/27/ult...-bacteria/

I wonder, whether the Y11K medibots are as large as these bacteria. In any case it's remarkable that these organisms are capable of self-replication on their own without having to rely on a host cell like a virus does. Nevertheless I didn't find anything in the news article which indicated that they are capable of locomotion at this tiny size. But maybe they simply don't need to actively look for food on their own (which may make locomotion necessary?) and rely on their fellow bacteria instead for that:

Among their findings: Some of the bacteria have thread-like appendages, called pili, which could serve as “life support” connections to other microbes.

[stevebowers]

These ultra-small bacteria resemble the sort of protobiota that probably existed on Earth before the emergence of modern cellular organisms. I suspect, however, that these modern diminutive organisms have evolved from larger bacteria somehow.