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The complete 1.66-megabase pair genome sequence of an autotrophic archaeon, Methanococcus jannaschii, and its 58 - and 16 - kilobase pair extrachromosomal elements have been determined by whole-genome random sequencing. A total of 1738 predicted protein-coding genes were identified; however, only a minority of these (38 percent) could be assigned a putative cellular role with high confidence. Although the majority of genes related to energy production, cell division, and metabolism in M. jannaschii are most similar to those found in Bacteria, most of the genes involved in transcription, translation, and replication in M. jannaschii are more similar to those found in Eukaryotes., The discovery of the Archaea in 1977 (1) created a quandary for biologists because it was then widely believed that the deepest, most significant evolutionary distinctions were those between Prokaryotes [...]

In 1982, a pilot guided the research submarine Alvin to a hot spot about 3 kilometers beneath the Pacific Ocean. There, from a deep-sea hydrothermal chimney, grayish white fluid spiraled [...]

Coupling the belief that early forms of life arose under inhospitable conditions (high temperatures and low oxygen) to the reasonable assumption that simpler organisms are more ancient than complex ones [...]