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archaea |
Also found in: Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.15 sec. |
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archaea: see Archaebacteria Archaebacteria (är'kēbăktĭr`ēə) ..... Click the link for more information. . archaeaA group of prokaryotes whose members differ from bacteria, the most prominent prokaryotes, in certain physical, physiological, and genetic features. The archaea may be aquatic or terrestrial microorganisms. They exhibit a diversity of shapes, including spherical, rodlike, and spiral forms. In addition, archaea can survive in various extreme conditions, including very hot or salty environments. Some archaea require oxygen, whereas others do not. Some produce methane as an end product; others depend on sulfur for their metabolism. The archaea can reproduce by several mechanisms, including binary fission, budding, and fragmentation. While the archaea share some features with bacteria, genetic studies have indicated that archaea are more closely related to eukaryotes than to bacteria. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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| 2002) found that mesophilic bacterial and archaeal populations survived steam treatment in laboratory studies using soils collected from contaminated sites. Indeed, Martin speculates that the merger of a bacterium with the archaeal host cell prompted the development of the nucleus and many of the other features that distinguish eukaryotic cells from bacteria and archaea, such as the internal framework called the cytoskeleton. Many archaeal organisms dominate extreme environments such as those with temperatures above boiling, at the bottom of the ocean, etc. |
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