What are Archaea and why study them?
The domain Archaea, like Bacteria, includes prokaryotes. Although they look superficially the same, Bacteria and Archaea differ in some major genetic and biochemical ways. In fact, the genetic differences between these two domains is greater than between all organisms within the domain Eukarya (protists, fungi, plants, animals). In other words, you may have more in common genetically with a mushroom than do bacteria and archaea! Archaea were discovered and recognized as a distinct domain of life only within the last couple decades. They tend to be extremophiles, but more are being discovered from all sorts of habitats in recent years. They probably fill ecological roles similar to bacteria.
