archaeon
Americannoun
-
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.
-
Also called archaebacterium
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
One archaeon, called Nanoarchaeum equitans, lives as a parasite on another archaeon in near-boiling waters and has dispensed with many of its genes related to energy production and general cellular housekeeping.
From Nature ● Jan. 11, 2017
At some point, an archaeon or a primitive eukaryote engulfed a bacterium, developing a symbiotic relationship.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 30, 2015
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
