2.

2 Comparing Bacteria and Archaea

-prokaryotes are represented by two domains; bacteria and archaea

Bacterium (bacteria)

is an individual prokaryotic cell or a single species that is in the domain Bacteria

Archaeon (archaea)

is an individual prokaryotic cell or single species that is in the domain Archaea

Comparing Morphology

-most common forms in bacteria and archaea are spheres and rods-the spherical
forms are called

coccus

sing. cocci

)-the rod forms are called

bacilli

(sing. bacillus)-there are also a part that is spiral-some bacteria are shaped like
cubes, pyramids, and rods with star-shaped cross sections-some Archaea are
shaped like plates and rectangular rods

Comparing Nutrition

-all Archaea are

methanogenesis

which means that they produce methane-gas as a by-product-methanogenesis is an

anaerobic process that occurs in environments that lack oxygen-often one of the
final stages of decomposition-methane producing Archaea live in the digestive
tracts of many animals, such as cattle-bacteria are photosynthetic-they absorb solar
energy to convert to carbon dioxide and water to sugar

Comparing Habitats

-both bacteria and Archaea live in aerobic (with oxygen) and anaerobic(without
oxygen) habitats-archaea generally live in extreme habitats, they are usually
referred to as

extremophiles
-bacteria generally live in moderate conditions, they are referred to as

mesophiles

There are

three

types of Extremophiles:-

thermophiles

live in hot springs and deep sea vents, temperatures over 100C

acidophiles

live in volcanic craters and mine drainage lakes, pH levels lower than 3-

halophiles

live in salt lakes and inland seas, enduring salt concentrations above 20%

Comparing Reproduction

-they both reproduce asexually-since both domains are prokaryotic and lack a
nucleus, both produce by

binary fission

where a cell just divides into twogenetically identical-DNA can be exchanged

instead of reproducing by binary fission with a process called

conjugation

-one cell links to another by a

pilus

(tube) and transfers a copy of some or all chromosomes

-both bacteria and Archaea house small DNA loops called

plasmids
which contains genes that differ from the ones in thechromosomes-they are
transferred through conjugation-bacteria form hard walled structures called

endospores

to protect and store genetic material

Classifying and Identifying Bacteria and Archaea

-the following characteristics can be used to classify and identify bacteria and
Archaea:-size and shape-nutrition-movement-genetic components-

gram staining

(separates bacteria into two major divisions based on the cell walls response to
staining)

Bacteria, Human Health and Environment

-some bacteria will harm human health-bacteria are decomposers; breaks down
organic molecules and releases carbon, nitrogen and sulfur-supports nutrient cycles-
cyanobacteria are major producers of oxygen due to photosynthesis-some Archaea
have enzymes that are special to humans-they can withstand extreme
temperatures, salinity and acidity-biotechnologists use some of the enzymes for
various procedures in DNA research

2.3 Eukaryotic Evolution and Diversity

About 2 million years ago, eukaryotes evolved and this led an increase to diversity
in life.These organisms are more complex than prokaryotes. They include more
genes, allowing for greater cellular diversity interms of size, shape, mobility and
specialized functions.Scientists examined the important question how eukaryotic
cells evolved and have come up with theories supported byevidence and
observations.

Endosymbosis

endosymbosis

is a theory that explains how eukaryotic cells evolved from the symbiotic
relationship between two ormore prokaryotic cells-in endosymbosis, one cell engulfs
a different type of cell and the engulfed cell becomes an internal part of the
engulfingcell-the engulfed cell is called an

endosymbiont
Chloroplasts and Mitochondria

-chloroplasts and mitochondria may have been free-living prokaryotesThey

continued to perform cellular activities while surviving and serving the host cell. A
comparison of chloroplasts andmitochondria and prokaryotes show:-similar types of
membrane-similar types of ribosomes-each reproduces by binary fission-each
contains circular chromosomes-gene sequences match

Multicellularity

-scientists believe that large and complex eukaryotes first developed 550 million
years ago-they have found red algae that date eukaryotes 1.2 to 1.5 billion years
agoScientists believe that multicellular organisms arose from colonies created by
individual cells that divided; the genes inthese cells contained information for some
cells to become specialized. With time, groups of cells developed
differentfunctionsLife Cycle and ReproductionEukaryotes reproduce by a number of
methods:-simple asexual reproduction-multiple fission asexual reproduction; where
multiple copies of a cell are made at once-sexual reproduction preformed by a
diploid organism (one set of chromosome per cell)-sexual reproduction preformed
by a haploid organism (two sets of chromosome per cell)

-sexual reproduction preformed by an organism with both a haploid and a diploid

stage of life-in the case of sexual reproduction, the timing of the production of the
egg and sperm differs as the organism may be ahaploid or a diploid-sexual
reproduction is not possible without

meiosis

, which is unique to eukaryotes-

meiosis

is the type of cell division that results in two daughter cells each with half the
number of chromosomes as theparent cell