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Archaea were initially classified as bacteria, receiving the name archaebacteria (/ ˌ ɑːr k i b æ k ˈ t ɪər i ə /, in the Archaebacteria kingdom), but this term has fallen out of use. [5] Archaeal cells have unique properties separating them from Bacteria and Eukaryota. Archaea are further divided into multiple recognized phyla.
The three-domain system adds a level of classification (the domains) "above" the kingdoms present in the previously used five- or six-kingdom systems.This classification system recognizes the fundamental divide between the two prokaryotic groups, insofar as Archaea appear to be more closely related to eukaryotes than they are to other prokaryotes – bacteria-like organisms with no cell nucleus.
According to the domain system, the tree of life consists of either three domains, Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya, [1] or two domains, Archaea and Bacteria, with Eukarya included in Archaea. [3] [4] In the three-domain model, the first two are prokaryotes, single-celled microorganisms without a membrane-bound nucleus.
Life originated as single-celled prokaryotes and later evolved into the more complex eukaryotes. In contrast to prokaryotic cells, eukaryotic cells are highly organised. Prokaryotes are the bacteria and archaea, while eukaryotes are the other life forms — protists, plants, fungi and animals.
Phylogenetic tree showing the relationship between the archaea and other forms of life. Eukaryotes are colored red, archaea green and bacteria blue. Adapted from Ciccarelli et al. [44] Woese argued that the bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes represent separate lines of descent that diverged early on from an ancestral colony of organisms.
Salt-tolerant archaea (the Haloarchaea) use sunlight as an energy source, and other species of archaea fix carbon; however, unlike plants and cyanobacteria, no known species of archaea does both. Archaea reproduce asexually by binary fission , fragmentation , or budding ; unlike bacteria and eukaryotes, no known species forms spores .
The tree of life. Two domains of life are Bacteria (top branches) and Archaea (bottom branches, including eukaryotes). The two-domain system is a biological classification by which all organisms in the tree of life are classified into two domains, Bacteria and Archaea.
The point of fusion (marked "?") below LECA is the FECA, the first eukaryotic common ancestor, some 2.2 billion years ago. Much earlier, some 4 billion years ago, the LUCA gave rise to the two domains of prokaryotes, the bacteria and the archaea. After the LECA, some 2 billion years ago, the eukaryotes diversified into a crown group, which gave ...