There is precedence for cells being that large. I can't remember the organism name, but there is actually some macroscopic single cell organism. It cheats by having multiple nuclei, among other things.
What is new here is that this is a bacteria, not a nucleate cell. Large eukaryote cells, even over 10 cm (4 inches), are well known. Almost all normal bacteria have a diameter under 100 micrometer, usually much less.
The article explains that the huge size for a bacteria seems to be enabled by 2 features, first a large water-filled vesicle inside, so that the living part of the cell is around the periphery of the cell, within short distances from the cell membrane, and second, a special compartment for DNA which provides some of the functions of a nucleus in an eukaryote (nucleate) cell.
Yeah, but the cell of such single-celled organisms are usually round or in one segment. This one looks like it has several segments, and still be a single cell, which is fascinating. Perhaps it is blurring the line between single cellular and multi cellular a bit, which might be the point that the article was trying to make.
