Archaeal genetics — the third way

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Abstract
Archaea comprise the third domain of life, alongside bacteria and eukaryotes. The domain Archaea was proposed in 1977 by Carl Woese, as a result of phylogenetic studies that used ribosomal-RNA sequences as a molecular chronometer. Archaea are renowned as extremophiles, but environmental studies indicate that they thrive in all habitats. However, so far no pathogenic archaea have been found. Bacteria and archaea share a prokaryotic morphology and have comparable pathways for central metabolism and energy conversion. On the other hand, information-processing pathways in archaea and eukaryotes use similar enzymes; although archaeal systems are much simpler. Lateral gene transfer between archaea and bacteria is common and might be responsible for some evolutionary innovations. As much as 50% of the genes found in archaeal genomes might encode novel proteins with no obvious counterparts in bacteria or eukaryotes. Archaeal proteins have proved invaluable to biochemists and structural biologists, but genetic studies of archaea are still comparatively rare. Genetic techniques for archaea are more advanced than is commonly believed. A wide range of archaeal species can be transformed using integrative and shuttle vectors, carrying various selectable markers. Methods for mutagenesis and gene knockout are available, as are reporter genes such as β-galactosidase.