Archaea News and Research

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Investigating methanogens to unravel the genetics of temperature adaptation

The history of the Earth has been one of physical extremes-;extreme atmospheric conditions, extreme chemical environments, and extreme temperatures.

28 Mar 2023

Elaborating how amino acids shaped the genetic code of ancient microbes

Researchers discovered that without specific amino acids, ancient proteins would not have identified how to evolve into anything alive on the planet today, including plants, animals, and humans, by mimicking early Earth conditions in the lab.

28 Feb 2023

Researchers expand the known defensive abilities of CRISPR–Cas systems

Viruses can infect bacteria and archaea, just as they can humans. These microbes have evolved their own immune defense mechanisms to combat their pathogens. Bacterial defenses, like CRISPR-Cas systems, contain a variety of proteins and functions that aid bacteria in protecting themselves from foreign intruders.

5 Jan 2023

Methane emissions offset atmospheric carbon dioxide uptake in the blue carbon ecosystems

Bladderwrack in the Baltic Sea emits significant amounts of methane, which, to some extent, can offset the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide by these algae.

5 Jan 2023

Cryo-EM solves the decades-old mystery of bacterial movement

Scientists from the University of Virginia School of Medicine and their colleagues have discovered a decades-old mystery regarding how E. coli and other bacteria move.

28 Sep 2022

Researchers determine a novel antiviral technique to combat bacteria

Bacteria use a wide range of defense strategies to combat viral infection, and some of these systems have resulted in game-changing technologies like CRISPR-based gene editing.

From Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 15 Aug 2022

Researchers examine ancient microbes to find life beyond earth

Researchers have reproduced what life was like for some of the oldest species on Earth using light-capturing proteins found in living microorganisms. These initiatives may enable everyone to spot life in distant worlds, whose atmospheres mirror the pre-oxygen planet more closely.

1 Jul 2022

Origin of chromatin in ancient microbes happened 1–2 billion years ago, study reveals

Nature’s storage solution originally emerged in ancient microbes living on Earth around one and two billion years ago, according to researchers at the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG).

10 Jun 2022

Researchers determine the ethical difficulties in microbiome research

A human rights activist and a team of anthropologists and human biologists are scrutinizing how Indigenous peoples are involved in microbiome research.

23 May 2022

New software device makes genetic information analysis simpler

Researchers from Texas Biomedical Research Institute and Tulane University have created a new software device that makes analyzing genetic data about a host and its microbiome at the very same time simpler, quicker, and less expensive.

10 May 2022

Enzymes found in capybara gut can promote the application of agroindustrial waste

One option to reduce dependence on oil and other fossil fuels is to transform agroindustrial waste into molecules of interest to society, like biofuels and biochemicals.

10 May 2022

Researchers may have identified a key intermediate in the transition from prokaryotes to eukaryotes

All modern organisms fall into two classes, eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Eukaryotes (from the Greek meaning "true kernel") have a cell nucleus that harbors most of the cell's genetic information and includes organisms such as humans, plants and fungi.

20 Apr 2022

Researchers identify universal patterns in the chemistry of life

The only references we have for "life" are the forms we know on Earth. Astrobiologists suspect that the search for alien life, and even for the origins of life on Earth, may require a broader scope.

1 Mar 2022

Scientists study the distant connection between Archaea and Bacteria

Researchers have discovered more evidence to support the idea that the two primary domains of life, Archaea and Bacteria, are detached by a long phylogenetic tree branch.

24 Feb 2022

New study deepens the understanding of microbial sulfur metabolism

The metabolism of sulfur compounds is among the most important microbial processes sustaining life in many anoxic environments where oxygen is not present.

18 Feb 2022

Scientists uncover novel information about the tiny propellers used by archaea

Archaea, like bacteria, may be found in a wide range of environments, including inside human bodies, although they are not known to cause illness.

From University of Exeter 14 Feb 2022

Study provides insight into the mechanism of action of DNA topoisomerase VI at the molecular level

The enzyme DNA topoisomerase VI (topo VI) plays a vital role in eliminating chromosome tangles that arise in the cell nucleus of plants.

4 Feb 2022

Microorganisms “breathe” rocks through extracellular electron transfer, says study

Microbes may be tiny, yet they have a significant influence on the Earth’s habitability.

4 Feb 2022

Scientists develop low-cost metagenome sequencing technique for microbiome research

A research team headed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, QIBEBT developed a low-cost metagenome sequencing technology.

31 Jan 2022

Study says plant microbiome influences health, survival, and fitness

The so-called plant microbiome—the microorganisms in a plant and its immediate environment—impacts plant health, survival, and fitness.

11 Jan 2022