CHAPTER

4: ARCHAEAL CELL STRUCTURE - Cocci and rods- are common shape of

archaea
- Crenarchaeota and Euayarchaeota-
two well eastblished phyla of - exhibits variety of shape like bacteria.
Archaea
-Thermoproteus tenax- branched shape
CELL ORGANIZATION OF ARCHAEA AND
BACTERIA -Haloquadratum walsbyi- at post-
shaped archaea.
Bacteria Archaea -Rods: 1 to 2um in size
Plasma Ester linked Glycerol
-Cocci: 1 to 3 um
membrane phospholipi diethers
lipids ds and form lipid -Nanoarchaeum equitans- 0.4 um
hopanoids bilayers;
form a lipid glycerol -Giant archaea may reach 30mm.
bilayer tetraethers
form lipid ARCHAEAL PLASMA MEMBRANES AND
monolayers NUTRIENT UPTAKE

Cell Wall PepNdoglyc Lacks -Lipids are dierent from bacteria and
an pepOdoglyca eukaryotes in two ways
n, some
consist of S- 1. Contain hydrocarbons derived
layer only from isoprene units.
others Important for extremophilic
combine it archaea for which membrane
with uidity and permeability are
polysacchari oHen compromised.
de or protein 2. Hydrocarbons are aJached to
Inclusions Yes, Yes, glycerol by Ether links rather
present including gas including gas than Ester links.
vacuole vacuole
- Glycerol diether lipids-b
Ribosome 70S 70S two hydrocarbons aJached to
size glycerol, 20 carbons in length.

Chromoso Most are All known - Diglycerol tetraether

me circular, are circular, lipids- two glycerol residues
structure double dsDNA are linked by two hydrocarbons
stranded that are 40 carbons in length.
DNA
- Basic design is similar to the bacteria
External Flagella, Flagella, pili and eukaryoOc membranes.
Structures mbriae are and pilus-like
common structures - Diether lipids form a bilayer membrane

Capsules or Common Rare -Tetraether lipids form a monolayer

slime layers membrane

SHAPE, ARRANGEMENT AND SIZE

 -Passive and Facillitated diusion are also - However their shape is dierent and
observed but AcOve transport is primarily their component molecule is not the same
used. with bacteria.

-Also exhibits secondary acOve transport. - both have rRNA in 16S in the small
subunit; 23S and 5S in the large subunit.
ARCHAEAL CELL WALLS And atleast one archaeon has 5.8S rRNA, in
the large subunit which is the same with the
- before are classied as gram-posiOve
eukaryotes.
and gram-negaOve microbes.
- Archeal ribosme have more protein :
-Archaeal cell wall exhibit considerable
68 compared to bacteria :55.
variety of in terms of their chemical make
up. NUCLEOID
- Cell wall lacks pepOdoglycan. - contains the cells chromosome and
numerous proteins.
-S-layer- composed either of glycoprotein
or protein. - Chromosome of all known archaea are
circular double stranded DNA.
- Other archaea have addiOonal layer
outside the S-Layer such as -Some archaea are polyploid, they have
Methanospirillum which has a mulOple copies of their chromosomes.
polysaccharide layer covering the S-Layer
-Alba- protein homologous to the HU of
-Pseudomurein pepOdoglycan like, bacteria, important in compacOng of the
separates the S-layer from the plasma chromosome.
membrane.
- Histones- form nucleosome that is the
- has L amino acids rather than D- same with eukaryotes.
amino acids
EXTERNAL STRUCTURES
-has N-acetyltalosaminuronic rather
than N-Acetylmuramic . PILI, CANNULAE AND HAMI

-has B 1-3 bonds rather B 1-4 bonds -Pili- are composed of pilin proteins
homologous to that of bacteria type IV pili
ARCHAEL CYTOPLASM proteins.
- very similar to bacteria cytoplasm -Cannulae and Hami- unique to archaea
- Within can be found inclusions; -Cannulae- hollow, tube-like structures
ribosomes; nucleoid; and in some cases observed on the surface of thermophilic
plasmids. archaea .
RIBOSOMES - ConnecOon of daughter cell to
mother cell
- ribosome of archaea is 70S in size.
-Hami- look like Ony grappling hooks
- constructed of a 50S and 30S
funcOons for aJachment of cell to surfaces.
subunits.
ARCHAEAL FLAGELLA AND MOTILITY
 -Flagella have not been observed
thoroughly.

-superfacially similar to their bacterial

counterparts.

- Are thinner compared to bacterial

agella and are composed of more than one
type of agellin.

- hooks tend to be longer compared to

bacterial hooks.

-Flagellum is not hollow.

- basal body cannot be observed.

- ATP- is used as energy compared to the

proton moNve force bacteria use.

-runs and tumbles is not observed.