Three domains of life—structure and function (Bacteria, Archaea, Eucarya)

Joseph L. Graves Jr

Department of Biology, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC, United States.

There are three domains of life that are descended from the last universal common ancestor. These are the Bacteria (most abundant), Archaea, and Eucarya. The bacteria and archaea are all unicellular (and microbial). The Eucarya are primarily unicellular (and therefore mostly microbial). Multicellularity evolved independently in two groups of supergroups of Eucarya: Archaeoplastida—Chloroplastida—plants; and Amorphea—Opisthokonta—animals and fungi. Knowledge of the evolutionary relatedness of organisms (through descent with modification) is important with regard to predicting both the impact of specific nanomaterials and the means by which resistance to them may evolve.

Keywords: Domains of life, Bacteria, Archaea, Eucarya, phylogeny, antimicrobial nanomaterials.