Introduced by Crafoord Prize winner Carl Woese, this volume combines reviews of the major developments in archaeal research over the past 10-15 years with more specialized articles dealing with important recent breakthroughs. Drawing on major themes presented at the June 2005 meeting held in Munich to honor the archaea pioneers Wolfram Zillig and Karl O. Stetter, the book provides a thorough survey of the field from its controversial beginnings to its ongoing expansion to include aspects of eukaryotic biology. The editors have assembled articles from the premier researchers in this rapidly burgeoning field, including an account by Carl Woese of his original discovery of the Archaea (until 1990 termed archaebacteria) and the initially mixed reactions of the scientific community. The review chapters and specialized articles address the emerging significance of the Archaea within a broader scientific and technological context, and include accounts of cutting-edge research developments. The book spans archaeal evolution, physiology, and molecular and cellular biology and is an essential reference for both graduate students and researchers.
Author(s): Roger A. Garrett, Hans-Peter Klenk
Edition: 1
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Year: 2007
Language: English
Pages: 438
Contents......Page 5
Contributors......Page 7
Preface......Page 11
1: The birth of the Archaea: a personal retrospective......Page 13
2: Natural history of the archaeal domain......Page 29
3: The root of the tree: lateral gene transfer and the nature of the domains......Page 41
4: Diversity of uncultivated Archaea: perspectives from microbial ecology and metagenomics......Page 51
5: Nanoarchaeota......Page 63
6: Families of DNA viruses infecting hyperthermophilic Crenarchaea......Page 71
7: Features of the genomes......Page 87
8: Sulfolobus genomes: mechanisms of rearrangement and change......Page 107
9: Plasmids......Page 117
10: Integration mechanisms: possible role in genome evolution......Page 125
11: Genetics......Page 137
12: Genetic properties of Sulfolobus acidocaldarius and related Archaea......Page 149
13: Chromatin and regulation......Page 159
14: DNA replication and the cell cycle......Page 171
15: DNA repair......Page 183
16: Transcriptional mechanisms......Page 197
17: Transcriptional regulation in Haloarchaea......Page 211
18: Aminoacyl-tRNAs: deciphering and defining the genetic message......Page 219
19: Translational mechanisms and protein synthesis......Page 229
20: Expanding world of small noncoding RNAs in Archaea......Page 241
21: Transcriptomics, proteomics, and structural genomics of Pyrococcus furiosus......Page 251
22: The glycolytic pathways of Archaea: evolution by tinkering......Page 259
23: Metabolism of inorganic sulfur compounds in Archaea......Page 273
24: Methyl-coenzyme M reductase in methanogens and methanotrophs......Page 287
25: Methylation of metal(loid)s by Methanoarchaea: production of volatile derivatives with high ecotoxicological impact and......Page 297
26: Biotechnology......Page 307
Wolfram Zillig......Page 335
References......Page 337
Index......Page 389
Color Plates......Page 401
