ARCHAEA AND THE CELL-CYCLE

Sequence similarity data suggest that archaeal chromosome replication is eukaryotic in character. Putative nucleoid-processing proteins disp lay similarities to both eukaryotic and bacterial counterparts, wherea s cell division may occur through a predominantly bacterial mechanism. Insights into the organization of the archaeal cell cycle are therefo re of interest, not only for understanding archaeal biology, but also for investigating how components from the other two domains interact a nd work in concert within the same cell; in addition, archaea may have the potential to provide insights into eukaryotic initiation of chrom osome replication.