A definition of the domains Archaea, Bacteria and Eucarya in terms of small subunit ribosomal RNA characteristics

Technical Report · Tue Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:10194436

Winker, S ^[1]; Woese, C R ^[2]

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1. Argonne National Lab., IL (United States). Mathematics and Computer Science Div.
2. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL (United States). Dept. of Microbiology

The number of small subunit rRNA sequences is not great enough that the three domains Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya (Woese, et al., 1990) can be reliably defined in terms of their sequence ``signatures.`` Approximately 50 homologous positions (or nucleotide pairs) in the small subunit rRNA characterized and distinguish among the three. In addition, the three can be recognized by a variety of nonhomologous rRNA characters, either individual positions and/or higher-order structural features. The Crenarchaeota and the Euryarchaeota, the two archaeal kingdoms, can also be defined and distinguished by their characteristic composition at approximately fifteen positions in the small subunit rRNA molecule.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (United States). Mathematics and Computer Science Div.
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 10194436
• Report Number(s): ANL/MCS/PP--73221; ON: DE95002924; CNN: Grant NSG-7044
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550200
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
BACTERIA
BIOCHEMISTRY
DNA SEQUENCING
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
MOLECULAR STRUCTURE
RIBOSOMAL RNA