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Archaea and Eubacteria Essay

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Primarily, the Archaea were once believed to be just another rare group of bacteria, because like bacteria, they are single-celled microscopic prokaryotic organisms with no membrane bound nucleus (http://www.fossilmuseum.net/Evolution/archaeaevolution.htm). Despite the similarities in the cell structure of Eubacteria and Achaea, molecular research by Dr Carl Woese and his co-workers indicated that they differ significantly on the molecular level (Bacteria in Biology, Biotechnology and medicine, Paul singleton). In this essay, am going to discuss the differences and similarities in the fundamental cellular feature of both organisms.
Even though both Archaea and eubacteria have a cell wall to maintain rigidity throughout the cell, there are …show more content…

Although both Archaeal and bacterial cells possess flagella for motility, the composition of each organism’s flagellum is very different. In bacterial cell, the flagellum is composed of a basal body, external protein filaments both are joined together by a third component called the hook.(Bacteria Flagella David Gene Morgan , Shahid Khan). In Archaeal, the protein filament is polymerised, glycosylated and very much thinner. The Archaeal flagellum is believed to be similar to the bacteria IV pilus in structure.(www.uniprot.org/keywords/974).
Another cellular feature shared by both Archaea and Bacteria is size and arrangement of ribosomes. Their ribosomes are much smaller in comparison to eukaryotes. The function of their ribosomes is similar to the ones in eukaryotes; for translating mRNA codons to sequence of amino acids for the synthesis of proteins. Both have 70S Ribosomes composed of 30S and 50S sub units that are joined to make a 70S unit. They contain “three ribonucleic acid molecules” consisting of “16S, 23S AND 5S”. On the other hand, the “primary structure of Archaea r-RNA and r-Proteins” is much similar to the ones in eukaryotes and less similar to that of bacteria. Additionally, the Archaea ribosome is much firm compared to mesophilic bacteria’s ribosomes, this is particularly beneficial in terms of their adaptation to extreme environmental conditions. (Archaeal Ribosomes, Paola Londei, university of Rome, “Sapienza”

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