Edited by
Paul Blum, School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, U.S.A.
Description
Although they comprise one of the three fundamental branches of life, it was only the last decade that Archaea were formally recognized
as a group alongside Eukaryotes and Bacteria. Bacteria-like in that they are single celled organisms that lack a nucleus and intracellular
organelles, the Arachaea also share a large gene set typical of eukaryotes, for making and repairing DNA, RNA and protien. More surprisingly,
they only inhabit environments typical of the extremes of early earth--hot springs, thermal ocean vents, saline lake, or oxygen deficient
sediments. A breakpoint on the common evolutionary path, it is evident that the Archaea diverged early in the history of life, establishing
thier importance in evolutionary sciences.
Archaea: Ancient Microbes, Extreme Environments, and the Origin of Life tells this
evolving story, furthering our understanding of the microbe commonalities, and providing for evolutionary justification in the use of
archaea as mechanistic model systems.
Included in series
Advances in Applied Microbiology
Audience:
Cell biologists, geneticists, microbiologists, molecular biolgists, bacteriologists, as well as advanced students and researchers in evolutionary studies.
