Archaea - Wikipedia

Archaea - Wikipedia Jump to content Main menu Main menu move to sidebar hide Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Special pages Search Search Appearance Donate Create account Log in Personal tools Donate Create account Log in Contents move to sidebar hide (Top) 1 Discovery and classification Toggle Discovery and classification subsection 1.1 Early concept 1.2 Classification 1.3 Phylogeny 1.4 Concept of species 2 Prokaryotic phyla Toggle Prokaryotic phyla subsection 2.1 Valid phyla 2.2 Candidate phyla 3 Origin and evolution Toggle Origin and evolution subsection 3.1 Comparison with other domains 3.2 Relationship to bacteria 3.3 Relation to eukaryotes 4 Morphology 5 Structure, composition development, and operation Toggle Structure, composition development, and operation subsection 5.1 Cell wall and archaella 5.2 Membranes 6 Metabolism 7 Genetics Toggle Genetics subsection 7.1 Horizontal gene transfer and genetic exchange 7.2 Archaeal viruses 8 Reproduction 9 Behavior Toggle Behavior subsection 9.1 Communication 9.2 Biofilms 10 Ecology Toggle Ecology subsection 10.1 Habitats 10.2 Role in chemical cycling 10.3 Interactions with other organisms 10.3.1 Mutualism 10.3.2 Commensalism 10.3.3 Parasitism 11 Significance in technology and industry 12 See also 13 References 14 Further reading 15 External links Toggle External links subsection 15.1 General 15.2 Classification 15.3 Genomics Toggle the table of contents Archaea 129 languages Afrikaans Alemannisch Aragonés अंगिका العربية الدارجة مصرى অসমীয়া Asturianu Azərbaycanca تۆرکجه Башҡортса Žemaitėška Беларуская (тарашкевіца) Беларуская Български বাংলা Bosanski Català کوردی Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Esperanto Español Eesti Euskara Estremeñu فارسی Suomi Võro Français Nordfriisk Gaeilge Kriyòl gwiyannen Galego Avañe'ẽ Gaelg עברית हिन्दी Fiji Hindi Hrvatski Kreyòl ayisyen Magyar Հայերեն Interlingua Bahasa Indonesia Ilokano Íslenska Italiano 日本語 Patois Jawa ქართული Қазақша ಕನ್ನಡ Yerwa Kanuri 한국어 Kurdî Kernowek Latina Lëtzebuergesch Лезги Lingua Franca Nova Limburgs Ligure Ladin Lombard Lietuvių Latviešu Madhurâ Malagasy Македонски മലയാളം Монгол मराठी Bahasa Melayu မြန်မာဘာသာ Napulitano Plattdüütsch नेपाल भाषा Nederlands Norsk nynorsk Norsk bokmål Occitan Oromoo ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Kapampangan Polski Piemontèis پنجابی Português Runa Simi ရခိုင် Română Русский Саха тыла Sardu Scots سنڌي Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски සිංහල Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Shqip Српски / srpski Svenska Kiswahili தமிழ் తెలుగు Тоҷикӣ ไทย Tagalog Türkçe Татарча / tatarça Українська اردو Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча Tiếng Việt Winaray 吴语 ייִדיש 閩南語 / Bân-lâm-gí 粵語中文 IsiZulu Edit links Article Talk English Read Edit View history Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions Read Edit View history General What links here Related changes Upload file Permanent link Page information Cite this page Get shortened URL Switch to legacy parser Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Abstract Wikipedia Wikimedia Commons Wikispecies Wikidata item Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Domain of organisms "Archea" redirects here. For the geologic time period, see Archean. For the rhythm game, see Arcaea. For other uses, see Archaea (disambiguation). {{Cite journal |last1=Göker |first1=Markus |last2=Oren |first2=Aharon |title=Valid publication of names of two domains and seven kingdoms of prokaryotes |journal=International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology |date=22 January 2024 |volume=74 |issue=1 |doi=10.1099/ijsem.0.006242|pmid=38252124 |doi-access=free }} – this article represents the valid publication of the name Archaea. Although Woese proposed the name in 1990, the name was not valid until this article from 2024, hence the date.</ref>"},"type_genus":{"wt":"''[[Methanobacterium]]''"},"type_genus_authority":{"wt":"Kluyver and van Niel 1936 (Approved Lists 1980)<ref name=\":1\" />"},"subdivision_ranks":{"wt":"Kingdoms"},"subdivision_ref":{"wt":"<ref name=\"valid-dom-kingdom\"/><ref name=\":1\" />"},"subdivision":{"wt":"* [[Methanobacteriati]]\n* [[Nanobdellati]]\n* [[Asgard archaea|Promethearchaeati]] (cladistically includes eukaryotes)\n* [[Thermoproteati]]\nAnd see [[#Prokaryotic phyla|text]]\n{{Collapse top|title=''[[Incertae sedis]]'' genera<ref>{{lpsn|family/archaea-no-family|[Archaea, not assigned to family<nowiki>]</nowiki>}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Velasco |first=Israel Muñoz |title=El hallazgo de Candidatus Sukunaarchaeum mirabile, una Archaea con el genoma más pequeño hasta ahora descubierto – Laboratorio de Genómica Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México |url=https://genomica.fciencias.unam.mx/2025/06/17/el-hallazgo-de-candidatus-sukunaarchaeum-mirabile-una-archaea-con-el-genoma-mas-pequeno-hasta-ahora-descubierto/ |access-date=2025-09-03 |language=es}}</ref>|left=yes|padding=0|border=0|border2=0|bg=clear|bg2=clear}}\n*\"[[Candidatus Methanoacidiosum|''Ca.'' Methanoacidiosum]]\"\n*\"[[Candidatus Sukunaarchaeum|''Ca.'' Sukunaarchaeum]]\"\n{{Collapse bottom}}"},"synonyms":{"wt":"* \"Archaebacteria\" Woese & Fox 1977\n* \"Archaeobacteria\" Murray 1988\n* \"Mendocutes\" Gibbons & Murray 1978\n* \"Mendosicutes\" Murray 1984\n* \"Metabacteria\" Hori and Osawa 1979\n* \"Neomura\" Cavalier-Smith 2002\n* \"Archaebiota\" Luketa 2012\n* \"Arkarya\" Forterre 2015"},"excludes":{"wt":"* [[Eukaryote|Eukaryota]]"},"excludes_text":{"wt":"Excluded"},"excludes_subtext":{"wt":"(but [[cladistics|cladistically]] included)"}},"i":3}}]}'> ArchaeaTemporal range: Paleoarchean–Present 3420–0 Ma Pha. Proterozoic Archean Had. <a rel=\"mw:WikiLink\" href=\"./Methanosarcina_barkeri\" title=\"Methanosarcina barkeri\" id=\"mwCA\">Methanosarcina barkeri</a>; <a rel=\"mw:WikiLink\" href=\"./Ignicoccus\" title=\"Ignicoccus\" id=\"mwCQ\">Ignicoccus hospitalis</a> with two smaller <a rel=\"mw:WikiLink\" href=\"./Nanoarchaeum_equitans\" title=\"Nanoarchaeum equitans\" id=\"mwDA\">Nanoarchaeum equitans</a>; an <a rel=\"mw:WikiLink\" href=\"./Archaeal_Richmond_Mine_acidophilic_nanoorganisms\" title=\"Archaeal Richmond Mine acidophilic nanoorganisms\" id=\"mwDQ\">Archaeal Richmond Mine acidophilic nanoorganism</a> (ARMAN); <a rel=\"mw:WikiLink\" href=\"./Haloquadratum_walsbyi\" title=\"Haloquadratum walsbyi\" id=\"mwDw\">Haloquadratum walsbyi</a>. Right column, from top to bottom: <a rel=\"mw:WikiLink\" href=\"./Methanohalophilus_mahii\" title=\"Methanohalophilus mahii\" id=\"mwEQ\">Methanohalophilus mahii</a>; an artist's rendering of <a rel=\"mw:WikiLink\" href=\"./Pyrococcus_furiosus\" title=\"Pyrococcus furiosus\" id=\"mwEw\">Pyrococcus furiosus</a>; a model of <a rel=\"mw:WikiLink\" href=\"./Promethearchaeum_syntrophicum\" title=\"Promethearchaeum syntrophicum\" class=\"mw-redirect\" id=\"mwFQ\">Promethearchaeum syntrophicum</a>; <a rel=\"mw:WikiLink\" href=\"./Halobacterium\" title=\"Halobacterium\" id=\"mwFw\">Halobacterium</a> species NRC-1.","txt":"Composite image to illustrate the morphological diversity of Archaea. Left column, from top to bottom: Methanosarcina barkeri; Ignicoccus hospitalis with two smaller Nanoarchaeum equitans; an Archaeal Richmond Mine acidophilic nanoorganism (ARMAN); Haloquadratum walsbyi. Right column, from top to bottom: Methanohalophilus mahii; an artist's rendering of Pyrococcus furiosus; a model of Promethearchaeum syntrophicum; Halobacterium species NRC-1."}]]}'> Composite image to illustrate the morphological diversity of Archaea. Left column, from top to bottom: Methanosarcina barkeri; Ignicoccus hospitalis with two smaller Nanoarchaeum equitans; an Archaeal Richmond Mine acidophilic nanoorganism (ARMAN); Haloquadratum walsbyi. Right column, from top to bottom: Methanohalophilus mahii; an artist's rendering of Pyrococcus furiosus; a model of Promethearchaeum syntrophicum; Halobacterium species NRC-1. Scientific classification Domain: Archaea Woese et al. 2024[1] Type genus Methanobacterium Kluyver and van Niel 1936 (Approved Lists 1980)[2] Kingdoms[1][2] Methanobacteriati Nanobdellati Promethearchaeati (cladistically includes eukaryotes) Thermoproteati And see text Incertae sedis genera[3][4] "Ca. Methanoacidiosum" "Ca. Sukunaarchaeum" Excluded(but cladistically included) Eukaryota Synonyms "Archaebacteria" Woese & Fox 1977 "Archaeobacteria" Murray 1988 "Mendocutes" Gibbons & Murray 1978 "Mendosicutes" Murray 1984 "Metabacteria" Hori and Osawa 1979 "Neomura" Cavalier-Smith 2002 "Archaebiota" Luketa 2012 "Arkarya" Forterre 2015 Archaea (/ɑːrˈkiːə/ ⓘ ar-KEE-ə) is a domain of organisms. Traditionally, Archaea included only its prokaryotic members, but has since been found to be paraphyletic,[citation needed] as eukaryotes are known to have evolved from archaea. Even though the domain Archaea cladistically includes eukaryotes, the term archaea (singular"}]],"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"singular abbr","href":"./Template:Singular_abbr"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"'''archaeon'''"}},"i":0}}]}'>sing. archaeon /ɑːrˈkiːɒn/ ar-KEE-on; from Ancient Greek ἀρχαῖον arkhaîon 'ancient') in English still generally refers specifically to prokaryotic members of Archaea. Archaea were initially classified as bacteria, receiving the name archaebacteria (/ˌɑːrkibækˈtɪəriə/, in the Archaebacteria kingdom), but this taxonomic approach has fallen out of use.[5] Archaeal cells have unique properties distinguishing them from Bacteria and Eukaryota, including: cell membranes made of ether-linked lipids; metabolisms such as methanogenesis; and a unique motility structure known as an archaellum.[6] Archaea are further divided into multiple recognized phyla. Classification is difficult because most have not been isolated in a laboratory and have been identified only by their gene sequences in environmental samples. They have not been observed to produce endospores. Archaea are often similar to bacteria in size and shape, although a few have very different shapes, such as the flat, square cells of Haloquadratum walsbyi.[7] Despite this, archaea possess genes and several metabolic pathways that are more closely related to those of eukaryotes, notably for the enzymes involved in transcription and translation. Other aspects of archaeal biochemistry are unique, such as their reliance on ether lipids in their cell membranes,[8] including archaeols. Archaea use more diverse energy sources than eukaryotes, ranging from organic compounds such as sugars, to ammonia, metal ions or even hydrogen gas. The salt-tolerant Halobacteria use sunlight as an energy source, and other species of archaea fix carbon (autotrophy), but unlike cyanobacteria, no known species of archaea does both. Archaea reproduce asexually by binary fission, fragmentation, or budding; unlike bacteria, no known species of Archaea form endospores. The first observed archaea were extremophiles, living in extreme environments such as hot springs and salt lakes with no other organisms. Improved molecular detection tools led to the discovery of archaea in almost every habitat, including soil,[9] oceans, and marshlands. Archa…