Characteristics of the archaea

Although the domains Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya were founded on genetic criteria, biochemical properties also indicate that the archaea form an independent group within the prokaryotes and that they share traits with both the bacteria and the eukaryotes. Major examples of these traits include:

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  1. Cell walls: virtually all bacteria contain peptidoglycan in their cell walls; however, archaea and eukaryotes lack peptidoglycan. Various types of cell walls exist in the archaea. Therefore, the absence or presence of peptidoglycan is a distinguishing feature between the archaea and bacteria.

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  2. Fatty acids: bacteria and eukaryotes produce membrane lipids consisting of fatty acids linked by ester bonds to a molecule of glycerol. In contrast, the archaea have ether bonds connecting fatty acids to molecules of glycerol. Although a few bacteria also contain ether-linked lipids, no archaea have been discovered that contain ester-linked lipids.

• 3. Complexity of RNA polymerase: transcription within all types of organisms is performed by an enzyme called RNA polymerase, which copies a DNA template into an RNA product. Bacteria contain a simple RNA polymerase consisting of four polypeptides. However, both archaea and eukaryotes have multiple RNA polymerases that contain multiple polypeptides. For example, the RNA polymerases of archaea contain more than eight polypeptides. The RNA polymerases of eukaryotes also consist of a high number of polypeptides (10–12), with the relative sizes of the polypeptides being similar to that of hyperthermophilic archaeal RNA polymerase. Therefore, the archaeal RNA polymerases more closely resemble RNA polymerases of eukaryotes rather than those of bacteria.

• 4. Protein synthesis: various features of protein synthesis in the archaea are similar to those of eukaryotes but not of bacteria. A prominent difference is that bacteria have an initiator tRNA (transfer RNA) that has a modified methionine, whereas eukaryotes and archaea have an initiator tRNA with an unmodified methionine.

• 5. Metabolism: various types of metabolism exist in both archaea and bacteria that do not exist in eukaryotes, including nitrogen fixation, denitrification, chemolithotrophy, and hyperthermophilic growth. Methanogenesis (the production of methane as a metabolic by-product) occurs only in the domain Archaea, specifically in the subdivision Euryarchaeota. Classical photosynthesis using chlorophyll has not been found in any archaea.

The metabolic strategies utilized by the archaea are thought to be extraordinarily diverse in nature. For example, halophilic archaea appear to be able to thrive in high-salt environments because they house a special set of genes encoding enzymes for a metabolic pathway that limits osmosis. That metabolic pathway, known as the methylaspartate pathway, represents a unique type of anaplerosis (the process of replenishing supplies of metabolic intermediates; in this instance the intermediate is methylaspartate). Halophilic archaeans, which include Haloarcula marismortui, a model organism used in scientific research, are thought to have acquired the unique set of genes for the methylaspartate pathway via a process known as horizontal gene transfer, in which genes are passed from one species to another.