Beginner
Scientists did not start to research archaea until about 30 years ago, when they realized how these organisms could survive extreme environments.
A google search of archaea will get you the result on the left.
In simpler terms, archaea are somewhere between bacteria and eukaryotes. They are the third branch in the tree of life, sharing characteristics with the other two. Their morphology is similar to bacteria and their genetic systems are parallel to those found in eukaryotes. That’s one of the reasons why we study them in the lab!
This video explains how archaea emerged as the third branch of the tree of life (3:43). To add on, rRNA research now suggests that the first branch split happened between bacteria and a precursor to eukarya and archaea.
In simpler terms, archaea are somewhere between bacteria and eukaryotes. They are the third branch in the tree of life, sharing characteristics with the other two. Their morphology is similar to bacteria and their genetic systems are parallel to those found in eukaryotes. That’s one of the reasons why we study them in the lab!
This video explains how archaea emerged as the third branch of the tree of life (3:43). To add on, rRNA research now suggests that the first branch split happened between bacteria and a precursor to eukarya and archaea.
Just like any other branch of life, archaea can be further divided into various groups (phyla). The five phyla are distinguished by the environment they live in. For more information about the different types of archaea, check out this website and this one.
Advanced
This section gives a more advanced look at archaeal morphology, mechanisms, and relevant research papers. A lot of these mechanisms relate to more advanced biochemical and microbiological topics, so I recommend checking out those tabs first.
As of now, I'm including a list of videos, websites, and articles to check out before I add in a more cohesive explanation.
As of now, I'm including a list of videos, websites, and articles to check out before I add in a more cohesive explanation.
Links
- Bozeman science video about archaea (great overview!)
- Scientific American article on the discovery of archaea and basics about their morphology
- A 20 min lecture on what archaea are
- Differences between archaea and bacteria
- The origin of archaea
- About transcriptional regulation in archaea
- Review on ubiquitin-like proteins in archaea
- Archaeal chromatin article (use your UF log-in to access the full paper)
Aside from cited online material, I obtained most of the information from the textbook used in MCB3023.