Three domains of life

Domain or dominion

The term “domain” is proposed by Carl Woese. (1990) in his three-domain system. This
term represents a synonym for the category of dominion (dominium in Latin), introduced by
Moore in 1974. Domain is a super kingdom category and extra taxonomic category.

Characteristics of the three domains of life

A speculatively rooted tree for RNA genes, showing major branches Bacteria, Archaea, and
eukaryota. Phylogenetic tree showing the relationship between the eukaryotes and other forms
of life.

Each of these three domains of life contains unique rRNA. The presence of a nuclear membrane
is the important characteristics which separate the Eukarya domain from the Archaea and
Bacteria domains. The RNA markers and biochemical nature differentiate the Archaea and
Bacteria domains from each other.

Archaea

Archaea are prokaryotic cells, typically characterized by membrane lipids that are
branched hydrocarbon chains attached to glycerol by ether linkages. The presence of these ether
linkages in Archaea adds to their ability to withstand extreme temperatures and
highly acidic conditions, but many archaea live in mild environments.

Archaea are Halophiles (organisms that live in highly salty environments),

and hyperthermophiles (organisms that live in extremely hot environments). Archaea evolved
many cell sizes, but all are relatively small. Their size ranges from 0.1 to 15 μ diameter and up to
200 μ long. They are about the size of a mitochondrion in a eukaryotic cell. The smallest of
the Archaea domain are the members of the genus, Thermoplasma.

Bacteria
Just like Archaea, bacteria are prokaryotic cells. Bacteria membranes are made of unbranched
fatty acid chains (unlike Archea which contains branched hydrocarbon chains) attached
to glycerol by ester (for Archea it is ether) linkages. Examples of Bacteria are Mycoplasmas and
Cyanobacteria. There is a great deal of diversity in this domain which makes it next to
impossible to determine the number of species of bacteria that exist on the earth.

Eukarya

Members of the domain Eukarya have cells which have a membrane with the nucleus containing
the genetic material. Most of the organisms with visible size(we can see) fall under this domain.
It is further classified into four kingdoms namely Fungi, Protista, Plantae, and Animalia

Exclusion of viruses

None of the three systems include non-cellular life like the virus. As of 2011, there is talk
about adding the fourth domain of life containing Nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses.