Is 'hollowness' an adaptation of large prokaryotes to their largeness?
Abstract
Large bacteria may have adapted to their largeness by producing a large central vacuole which keeps the cytoplasm near the outer surface of the cell. The vacuole and cytoplasm appear to be separated by a unit membrane. This adaptation may help to maintain an acceptable ratio between the surface area of the cell and the cytoplasmic volume for the exchange of metabolites through the surface.
This paper has been withdrawn.