Archaebacteria are prokaryotic organisms that belong to the Archae kingdom. They are extremophiles, capable of living in extreme environments, and employ unique chemical processes to survive. They are non-pathogenic and have similarities to both bacteria and eukaryotes. They were discovered in 1977 through RNA studies and have a close relationship with the Eukarya kingdom.
Archaebacteria are a type of prokaryote, i.e. a single-celled organism without a cell nucleus. They constitute the kingdom Archae, one of the main kingdoms of life. These organisms are difficult to classify because they have similarities to both normal bacteria and larger eukaryotes. In structure, they are like unicellular prokaryotes, but the genetic transcription and translation underlying their creation is similar to that of more complex eukaryotes.
Capable of living in a variety of environments, archaea are known as extremophiles. Some species are able to live in temperatures above the boiling point at 100° Celsius or 212° Fahrenheit. They can also thrive in highly saline, acidic, or alkaline aquatic environments. They employ a variety of chemical tricks to achieve this, with one species, the halobacteria, being able to convert light into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), or cellular energy, using a non-photosynthetic process. Halobacteria live in water almost completely saturated with salt and, unlike photosynthetic plants, are unable to extract carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Archaebacteria range in size from 1/10 of a micrometer to over 15 micrometers. (A human hair is about 100 micrometers wide.) Some possess flagella, but these have a substantially different structure from that of flagella bacteria. In 1999, the genome of Pyrococcus abyssi, one of the hardiest archaebacteria on Earth, was sequenced. Further studies on its resilience to extreme temperatures are expected to have applications in the biotechnology sector. Archaebacteria are non-pathogenic, they live in and around other organisms but do not infect them. Some are able to withstand pressures exceeding 200 atmospheres, allowing them to thrive deep within the Earth.
Archaebacteria weren’t recognized as a distinct life form from bacteria until 1977, when Carl Woese and George Fox determined it through RNA studies. However, the Archae kingdom has a close relationship with the Eukarya kingdom, the two sharing many gene trees and common traits. One of the first places Archae were discovered was at the bubbling hot springs in Yellowstone National Park.
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