Question

Archaea are often described as extremophiles, because of their occurrence in unlikely living conditions.

Describe THREE structural adaptations that archaea have evolved to deal with life at high temperatures. Be sure to describe the structures themselves, how they differ from those found in other microbes, and how these adaptations improve heat tolerance.

Answer 1

Archae survives in extremely high temperature due to these adaptations :

DNA adaptation: It is found that Archae contain rich GC (Guanine and Cytosine) content. Since GC pairing contain 3 Hydrogen bond which makes their genetic material more stable. In other bacteria this kind of modification doesn't present.

Membrane adaptation: All microbes contain phospholipid membrane in which phosphate forms ester linkage with hydrocarbon. In contrast, Archae contain ether linkage between phosphate and hydrocarbon due to which the hydrocarbon becomes electron rich and provides greater stability to the membrane.

Metabolic adapatation: In archae a specific protein named Heat shock protein (HSP) is present which act as a chaperon protein that helps enymatic protein maintain their proper confirmation.

If this helps you then please Rate it . Thanks and regards.