DESCRIPTION OF THE KINGDOM EURYARCHAEOTA (WOESE ET AL. 1990)
| ARCHAEA> EURYARCHAEOTA |
KINGDOM EURYARCHAEOTA LINKS
| Euryarchaeota (ur-e-ar-ke-O-ta) is formed from two Greek roots that mean “wide” (eurus -ευρύς) and ancient (archaios -αρχαίος). The reference is to the broad occurrences of the taxa in this kingdom. It was first defined as a kingdom by Woese et al. (1990). |
| INTRODUCTION This kingdom Euryarchaeota though small is quite diverse, with at least four distinct lines that we interpret as phyla. The kingdom includes the methanogens and halophils and is delimited as a group according to small subunit r RNA (text with tooltip) A 16-S rRNA subunit is a small component of a ribosome. Assumed to be about the most conserved of the molecular components. The small subunits are designated according to their sedimentation characteristics: 23S, 16S, and 5S. . This system differs from that of Margulis and Schwartz (1998) in that we include the Thermoplasmobacteria , Archaeglobus (and its relatives), and Methanopyrus in this kingdom, an association which is borne out by molecular data (e.g. Gao and Gupta 2007). This system roughly follows that of Garrity et al. (2001) except that we have raised their classes (all of which represent deeply branching lines) to the level of phylum. Gao and Gupta (2007), who suggested a phylogeny based on comparisons of 31 proteins, is quite different in its structure. Their analysis confirmed that Halobacteria and Thermoplasmobacteria were monophyletic. However, the Methanobacteria form two very different groups, which if true, would make the methanogens polyphyletic. So, we adopt this system with a cautionary note. Cells in this kingdom assume almost any shape. According to Garrity and Holt (2001) they can be rods, cocci, irregular cocci, lancet-shaped, spiriloid, discoid, triangular, or square. They may stain Gram positive (text with tooltip) A Gram + cell retains the blue-black crystal-violet color following destaining with alcohol during the Gram Stain procedure. or Gram negative (text with tooltip) A Gram - cell loses the blue-black crystal-violet color following destaining with alcohol during the Gram Stain procedure. Then, it takes on the color of the counterstain, typically iodine. . |
FIGURE 1. CLADOGRAM THAT HIGHLIGHTS THE PHYLA OF THE KINGDOM EURYARCHAEOTA. The general organization of the cladogram according to The All-Species Living Tree Project (Yarza et al. 2008, 2010).
C = CRENARCHAEOTA
E = EURYARCHAEOTA
Eu = EURYTHERMEA
Ne = NEOBACTERIA
| PHYLA OF THE EURYARCHAEOTA |
- HALOBACTERIA (Grant et al. 2001)
METHANOBACTERIA (Boone 2001)
THERMOPLASMOBACTERIA1
THERMOBACTERIA2
| 1. Thermoplasmobacteria is our combination to make the endings of the phyla conform. This is derived from the name Thermoplasmata (Reysenbach 2001). |
| 2. Thermobacteria is our combination to make the endings of the phyla conform. This is derived from the name Thermococci (Zillig and Reysenbach 2001). |
| FURTHER READING: DISCOVERY OF THE DOMAINS OF LIFE |
| LITERATURE CITED Black, J. G. 2002. Microbiology, Principles and Explorations. 5th ed. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. New York. Boone, D. R. 2001. Class I. Methanobacteria class. nov. In: D. R. Boone and R. W. Castenholz, eds. Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology Volume 1: The Archaea and the deeply branching and phototrophic Bacteria. 2nd ed. New York: Springer Verlag. pp. 169. Gao, B. and R. S. Gupta. 2007. Phylogenetic analysis of proteins that are distinctive of Archaea and its main subgroups and the origin of methanogenesis. BMC Genomics. 8:86. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/8/86. Garrity, G. M., M. Winters, and D. Searles. 2001. Bergey’s manual of systematic bacteriology. 2nd ed. Springer-Verlag. New York. Garrity, G. M., J. A. Bell, and T. G. Lilburn. 2003. Taxonomic Outline of the Prokaryotes. Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology. 2nd edition. Release 4.0. Springer-Verlag. New York. pp. 1-397. Grant, W. D., M. Kamekura, T. J. McGenity, and A. Ventosa. 2001. Class III. Halobacteria class. nov. In: D. R. Boone and R. W. Castenholz, eds. Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, 2nd ed., vol. 1 (The Archaea and the deeply branching and phototrophic Bacteria). Springer-Verlag. New York. p. 294. Margulis, L. and K. Schwartz. 1988. Five kingdoms, an illustrated guide to the phyla of life on earth. 2nd Edition. W. H. Freeman and Co. New York. Margulis, L. and K. Schwartz. 1998. Five kingdoms, an illustrated guide to the phyla of life on earth. 3nd Edition. W. H. Freeman and Co. New York. Reysenbach, A. L. 2001. Class IV. Thermoplasmata class. nov. In D. R. Boone and R. W. Castenholz, eds. Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology Volume 1: The Archaea and the deeply branching and phototrophic Bacteria. 2nd ed. Springer Verlag. New York. p. 169. Woese, C. R. and G. E. Fox. 1977. Phylogenetic structure of the prokaryotic domain: the primary kingdoms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA . 74:5088-5090. Woese, C. R., O. Kandler, and M. L. Wheelis. 1990. Towards a natural system of organisms: Proposal for the domains Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 87: 4576-4579. Zillig, W. and A. L. Reysenbach. 2001. Class IV. Thermococci class. nov. In D. R. Boone and R. W. Castenholz, eds. Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology Volume 1: The Archaea and the deeply branching and phototrophic Bacteria. 2nd ed. Springer Verlag. New York. p. 169. |
| By Jack R. Holt. Last revised: 05/06/2013 |
