Archaea

Despite recent advances in the study of eukaryogenesis, much remains unresolved about the origin and evolution of the most complex domain of life.

A lot happened in the hundreds of millions years separating the first and last eukaryotic common ancestors, but when and how most features arose remains a mystery.

The Scientist spoke with microbiologist William Whitman about a new system of nomenclature for prokaryotic organisms that can’t be cultured.

Methane production, likely achieved by a diverse group of methanogenic archaea, occurs at similar rates in both alive and dead seagrasses, a study reports. The findings highlight the potential environmental impact of seagrasses declining globally.

The first evidence of biologically produced elemental carbon inspires more questions than answers.  

Massive extrachromosomal elements named after the hive-minded cyborg villains in Star Trek may be the first of their kind.

With modern technologies unearthing novel bacterial and archaeal species by the dozens, hundreds, or even thousands, manually naming them all is no longer practical, scientists say.

The 12-year-long endeavor reveals Prometheoarchaeum as a tentacled cell, living in a symbiotic relationship with methane-producing microbes.

When different archaeal species mate, their CRISPR systems interact in ways that may influence their evolution.

Scientists estimate that subterranean organisms constitute a massive amount of carbon, 245 to 385 times greater than that contained in all humans.

What we can know about biology before the last universal common ancestor is limited—and we should be circumspect in filling in the gaps.

The ancient organisms appear to be more closely related to eukaryotes than previously appreciated.

We should take comfort in the fact that life on Earth had such unassuming, shared beginnings.

Meet some of the people featured in the June 2018 issue of The Scientist.

Identification of new archaea species elucidates the domain’s unique  biology and sheds light on its relationship to eukaryotes.

The discovery of copious new archaeal species is shedding light on the tree of life and revealing some unique cellular biology.

The paper describing the gene-editing method is retracted.

Scientists expand the microbial tree of life by publishing more than 1,000 novel reference genomes.