Blum P. Archaea. Ancient Microbes, Extreme Environments, and the Origin of Life

Gulf Professional Publishing, 2001. — 382 p. — (Advances in Applied Microbiology. Volume 50).Key FeaturesProvides a unique and current summary of common subcellular mechanisms in archaea and eukaryotes
Emphasizes the use of genomics to provide a biological context for understanding archaea
Contrasts evolutionary studies on the fossil record with those on molecular phylogeny
Includes extensive tables, graphs, images, drawings and other illustrations
Simplifies the interdisciplinary challenge necessary to understand the significance of archaea
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.
For cell biologists, geneticists, microbiologists, molecular biolgists, bacteriologists, as well as advanced students and researchers in evolutionary studies.Paleobiology of the Archean
A Comparative Genomics Approach for Studying Ancestral Proteins and Evolution
Chromosome Packaging by Archaeal Histones
DNA Recombination and Repair in the Archaea
Basal and Regulated Transcription in Archaea
Protein Folding and Molecular Chaperones in Archaea
Archaeal Proteasomes: Proteolytic Nanocompartments of the Cell
Archaeal Catabolite Repression: A Gene Regulatory Paradigm