Rother Michael, Metcalf William W
Institut für Mikrobiologie, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Marie-Curie-Strasse 9, D-60439 Frankfurt (Main), Germany.
Curr Opin Microbiol. 2005 Dec;8(6):745-51. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2005.10.010. Epub 2005 Oct 28.
Members of the third domain of life, the Archaea, possess structural, physiological, biochemical and genetic features distinct from Bacteria and Eukarya and, therefore, have drawn considerable scientific interest. Physiological, biochemical and molecular analyses have revealed many novel biological processes in these important prokaryotes. However, assessment of the function of genes in vivo through genetic analysis has lagged behind because suitable systems for the creation of mutants in most Archaea were established only in the past decade. Among the Archaea, sufficiently sophisticated genetic systems now exist for some thermophilic sulfur-metabolizing Archaea, halophilic Archaea and methanogenic Archaea. Recently, there have been developments in genetic analysis of thermophilic and methanogenic Archaea and in the use of genetics to study the physiology, metabolism and regulatory mechanisms that direct gene expression in response to changes of environmental conditions in these important microorganisms.
生命的第三个域——古菌域的成员，具有与细菌和真核生物不同的结构、生理、生化和遗传特征，因此引起了科学界的广泛关注。生理、生化和分子分析揭示了这些重要原核生物中的许多新的生物学过程。然而，由于在过去十年才建立起适合大多数古菌创建突变体的系统，通过遗传分析在体内评估基因功能的研究滞后了。在古菌中，目前已经为一些嗜热硫代谢古菌、嗜盐古菌和产甲烷古菌建立了足够成熟的遗传系统。最近，嗜热古菌和产甲烷古菌的遗传分析以及利用遗传学研究这些重要微生物中响应环境条件变化而指导基因表达的生理、代谢和调控机制方面都有了进展。
