TY - JOUR
T1 - Major players on the microbial stage
T2 - why Archaea are important
AU - Jarrell, K F
AU - Walters, A D
AU - Bochiwal, C
AU - Borgia, Juliet Marie
AU - Dickinson, T
AU - Chong, J P J
PY - 2011/4
Y1 - 2011/4
N2 - As microbiology undergoes a renaissance fueled in part by developments in new sequencing technologies, the massive diversity and abundance of microbes becomes yet more obvious. The archaea have traditionally been perceived as a minor group of organisms forced to evolve into environmental niches not occupied by their more "successful" and "vigorous" counterparts, the bacteria. Here we outline some of the evidence gathered by an increasingly large and productive group of scientists that demonstrates not only that the archaea contribute significantly to global nutrient cycling, but also that they compete successfully in "mainstream" environments. Recent data suggest that the archaea provide the major routes for ammonia oxidation in the environment. Archaea also have huge economic potential that to date has only been fully realized in the production of thermostable polymerases. Archaea have furnished us with key paradigms for understanding fundamentally conserved processes across all domains of life. In addition, they have provided numerous exemplars of novel biological mechanisms that provide us with a much broader view of the forms that life can take and the way in which microorganisms can interact with other species. That this information has been garnered in a relatively short period of time, and appears to represent only a small proportion of what the archaea have to offer, should provide further incentives to microbiologists to investigate the underlying biology of this fascinating domain.
AB - As microbiology undergoes a renaissance fueled in part by developments in new sequencing technologies, the massive diversity and abundance of microbes becomes yet more obvious. The archaea have traditionally been perceived as a minor group of organisms forced to evolve into environmental niches not occupied by their more "successful" and "vigorous" counterparts, the bacteria. Here we outline some of the evidence gathered by an increasingly large and productive group of scientists that demonstrates not only that the archaea contribute significantly to global nutrient cycling, but also that they compete successfully in "mainstream" environments. Recent data suggest that the archaea provide the major routes for ammonia oxidation in the environment. Archaea also have huge economic potential that to date has only been fully realized in the production of thermostable polymerases. Archaea have furnished us with key paradigms for understanding fundamentally conserved processes across all domains of life. In addition, they have provided numerous exemplars of novel biological mechanisms that provide us with a much broader view of the forms that life can take and the way in which microorganisms can interact with other species. That this information has been garnered in a relatively short period of time, and appears to represent only a small proportion of what the archaea have to offer, should provide further incentives to microbiologists to investigate the underlying biology of this fascinating domain.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79953687683&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1099/mic.0.047837-0
DO - 10.1099/mic.0.047837-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 21330437
SN - 1465-2080
VL - 157
SP - 919
EP - 936
JO - Microbiology (Reading, England)
JF - Microbiology (Reading, England)
IS - Pt 4
ER -