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

It's commonly understood that the first eukaryotic cells resulted from the fusion of an early form of bacteria with an archaeon, a single-celled organism similar to a bacterium.

From Science Daily • Oct. 2, 2023

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

The first option, called the big-bang or mitochondria-early theory, predicts that a primitive archaeon engulfed a bacterium, an event that drove the development of eukaryotes.

From Scientific American • Nov. 30, 2015