What is the difference between Archaea and Bacteria? - ProProfs Discuss
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What is the difference between Archaea and Bacteria?

Asked by Lynn , Last updated: Oct 29, 2024

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3 Answers

B. Strickland

B. Strickland

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B. Strickland
B. Strickland, Sales Manager, MBA, Houston

Answered Jun 11, 2020

An Archaea is a single-celled organism that has no nuclei and is, therefore, prokaryotes. Formerly, they were classified as bacteria, but his classification is outdated. Archaea and Bacteria have a similar cell structure. Bacteria is also unicellular and have cell walls with no nucleus and are also prokaryotic. So, what is the difference? The Archaea’s cell wall has no peptidoglycan and bacteria does, The Archaea has no antibiotic sensitivity, and Bacteria does.

Archaea lives in extreme environments and will not infect humans, and Bacteria is both helpful and harmful to humans.

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G. Roland

G. Roland

G. Roland
G. Roland, Professor, Austin

Answered Jun 11, 2020

Archaea is a single cell. They are simple microorganisms and can survive in conditions that are extreme. These conditions are like the depth of an ocean or hot springs. Bacteria is also a single cell, but it is complex.

Bacteria can survive almost anywhere, such as water and in organisms that are living and not living. Another difference between them is in regards to their cell wall. Archaea's cell wall is pseudopeptidoglycan. Bacteria's cell wall is peptidoglycan.

Examples of archaea include Methanobacterium formicarium, Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, and Pyrolobus fumaric. Examples of bacteria include Salmonella enterica.Streptococcus pneumonia, E Coli, and Yersinia pestis

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B. Mary

B. Mary

Health comes first, and I happen to know a lot about health.

B. Mary
B. Mary, Health Care manager, MHA(Master's In Healthcare Administration), Raleigh, North Carolina

Answered Jun 09, 2020

Both bacteria and the archaea possess distinct Ribosomal Nucleic Acids (rRNA). Archaea do have three RNA polymerases, just like eukaryotes, but the bacteria only possess one. Archaea do have cell walls that lack peptidoglycan, and they also do have membranes that enclose lipids with hydrocarbons instead of fatty acids.

These lipids that are in the membranes of archaea are unique, and they contain linkages that lie between the glycerol backbones instead of ester linkages. Archaea share a resemblance with eukaryotes than bacteria. Their ribosomes also work more like the eukaryotic ribosome more than bacterial ribosomes.

Both microorganisms differ in both genetic and biochemical ways. Only in the last decades ago, archaea were recognized as a very distinct domain of life. They are extremophiles, which means they thrive in very extreme conditions. They also have similar ecological roles as bacteria. Both of these organisms respond to various antibiotics in a very different manner.

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