Showing results for "archaeon"

• singular of archaea.

archaeon

American  

[ahr-kee-ahn, ahr-kay-ahn] / ɑrˈki ɑn, ɑrˈkeɪ ɑn /

noun

• archaeons
  plural

1. any member of the domain Archaea, single-celled microorganisms similar to bacteria but having distinct structural and genetic characteristics.

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archaeon Scientific  

/ är′kē-ŏn′ /

• archaea
  plural

1. Any of a group of microorganisms that resemble bacteria but are different from them in their genetic makeup and certain aspects of their cell structure, such as the composition of their cell walls. Archaea usually live in extreme, often very hot or salty environments, such as hot mineral springs or deep-sea hydrothermal vents, but some are also found in animal digestive systems. The archaea are considered a separate domain in some classifications, but a division of the prokaryotes (Monera) in others. Some scientists believe that archaea were the earliest forms of cellular life.

2. Also called archaebacterium

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• archaeal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• archaeons
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

archaeon

The newly identified archaeon has been named Nerearchaeum marumarumayae.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026

In every place, copies of the Borg co-occurred with DNA linked to a methane-oxidizing archaeon called Methanoperedens.

From Science Magazine ● Jul. 15, 2021

He is part of a team that spent a decade trying to determine the physical shape of a particular protein in a tiny bacteria-like organism called an archaeon.

From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2020

In the end, they found 17 enzymes from 9 different organisms, including E. coli, an archaeon, the plant Arabidopsis and humans.

From Nature ● Nov. 6, 2018

Mitochondrial merger Eukaryotes have a number of innovations compared to their more primitive archaeon ancestors.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 30, 2015