These organisms are microscopic prokaryotes. When the first ones were discovered (in 1977), they were considered bacteria. However, when their ribosomal RNA was sequenced, it became obvious that they bore no close relationship to the bacteria and were, in fact, more closely related to the eukaryotes (including ourselves!) For a time they were referred to as archaebacteria, but now to emphasize their distinctness, we call them Archaea.
They have also been called Extremophiles in recognition of the extreme environments in which they have been found:
- thermophiles, which live at high temperatures;
- hyperthermophiles, which live at really high temperatures (present record is 121°C!);
- psychrophiles, which like it cold (one in the Antarctic grows best at 4°C);
- halophiles, which live in very saline environments (like the Dead Sea);
- acidophiles, which live at low pH (as low as pH 1 and who die at pH 7!);
- alkaliphiles, which thrive at a high pH.
Most of the >250 named species that have been discovered so far have been placed in two groups:
- Euryarchaeota
- Crenarchaeota
There are three main groups:
- Methanogens
- Halophiles
- Thermoacidophiles
These are found living in such anaerobic environments as
- the muck of swamps and marshes;
- the rumen of cattle (where they live on the hydrogen and CO2 produced by other microbes living along with them);
- sewage sludge;
- the gut of termites.
They are chemoautotrophs; using hydrogen as a source of electrons for reducing carbon dioxide to food and giving off methane ("marsh gas", CH4) as a byproduct.
4H2 + CO2 -> CH4 + 2H2O
Two methanogens have had their complete genomes sequenced:
- Methanococcus jannaschii and
- Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum
[View the data]
These are found in extremely saline environments such as the Great Salt Lake in the U.S. and the Dead Sea. They maintain osmotic balance with their surroundings by building up the solute concentration within their cells.
As their name suggests, these like it hot and acid (but not as hot some of the Crenarchaeota!). They are found in such places as acidic sulfur springs (e.g., in Yellowstone National Park) and undersea vents ("black smokers").
The first members of this group to be discovered like it really hot and so are called hyperthermophiles. One can grow at 121°C (the same temperature in the autoclaves used to sterilize culture media, surgical instruments, etc.).
Many like it acid as well as hot and live in acidic sulfur springs at a pH as low as 1 (the equivalent of dilute sulfuric acid). These use hydrogen as a source of electrons to reduce sulfur in order to get the energy they need to synthesize their food (from CO2).
One member of the group, Aeropyrum pernix, has had its genome completely sequenced.
Other members of this group seem to make up a large portion of the plankton in cool, marine waters. As yet, none of these has been isolated and cultivated in the laboratory.
The archaea have a curious mix of traits characteristic of
- the other prokaryotes — the bacteria — as well as traits found in
- eukaryotes
The table summarizes some of them.
| Eukaryotic Traits |
Bacterial Traits |
|
|
|
- Many traits found in the bacteria first appeared in the ancestors of all the present-day groups.
- The split leading to the archaea and the eukaryotes occurred after the bacteria had gone their own way.
- However, the acquisition by eukaryotes of
occurred after their line had diverged from the archaea.
Their
- ability to live in extreme environments and
- autotrophism; that is, their ability to make food using materials (H2, S, CO2) in the earth's crust
have suggested that the archaea may be the little-changed descendants of the first forms of life on earth.
Because they have enzymes that can function at high temperatures, considerable effort is being made to exploit the archaea for commercial processes such as providing
- enzymes to be added to detergents (maintain their activity at high temperatures and pH);
- an enzyme to covert corn starch into dextrins.
Archaea may also be enlisted to aid in cleaning up contaminated sites, e.g., petroleum spills.
17 March 2004