Cell Sorting Protein Homologs Reveal An Unusual Diversity In Archaeal Cell Division

摘要

In this issue of PNAS, Lindas et al. (1) report an interesting diversity in archaeal cell division, in contrast to those of bacterial and eukaryotic cells, which appear to be more uniform. The Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya constitute the 3 domains of life on our planet (2). Within the cell cycle of each lineage, DNA replication ensures faithful duplication of the chromosome, after which a copy of the genetic material from the mother cell segregates into 2 daughter cells. By this process, organisms generate progeny to ensure continuation of their lineage. In their seminal report, Woese et al. (2) subdivided Archaea into 2 major kingdoms, namely the Euryarchaeota and Crenarchaeota, although as discussed later, there appear to be more kingdoms within the Archaea.