The Nordic Archaeal Network comprises a network of fourteen research groups working on diverse aspects of archaeal cell and molecular biology and virology in the Nordic research area (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland) and beyond (France, Germany and the UK). The paragraphs below offer a brief summary of this area of research, beginning with the key question: what are the archaea?

The archaea are a group of single-celled microorganisms that comprise the third domain of life on Earth, after bacteria and eukaryotes. Like bacteria, the archaea have no cell nucleus and are therefore prokaryotes. Despite this superficial similarity to bacteria, however, archaea are in fact more closely related to eukaryotes. Many archaeal cell processes, particularly those involved in the processing of the genetic information (DNA replication, transcription and translation), are distinctly eukaryotic in nature, while other archaeal cell processes are entirely unique. Initially, the archaea were characterised as extremophiles, organisms capable of thriving only under the most extreme physical conditions, such as at high temperatures and pressures, in highly acidic or alkaline environments, in high salt or in the absence of oxygen. However, it is now clear that the archaea are abundant across the planet, comprise up to 25% of the Earth‘s biomass and make a major contribution to both biosphere and atmosphere.

The abundance and diversity of the archaea makes them an important topic for research in their own right. In addition to this, however, the similarity between various archaeal and eukaryotic cell processes also means that archaeal organisms and archaeal proteins can be used as model systems for studying these processes. Furthermore, these archaeal models offer several advantages over their eukaryotic archetypes. Notably, proteins derived from extremophilic archaeal organisms are typically much more stable than their eukaryotic counterparts. This greatly aids the purification of these proteins for biochemical and structural studies, a property that has been repeatedly exploited by members of the Nordic Archaeal Network in a number of ground-breaking studies. A second advantage is that archaeal proteins and protein complexes are often simpler in structure when compared to their eukaryotic counterparts, making their investigation simpler in turn.

In addition to being useful as simplified model for eukaryotes, the archaea offer enormous opportunities for the discovery of new biological processes with potential medical or industrial applications. Many proteins encoded by archaeal genomes have no counterparts in either bacteria or eukaryotes; this is especially the case for the archaeal viruses. Understanding the function of these unique proteins can lead to the development of novel tools for biotechnology as well as having an important impact on our understanding of how life on the planet evolved. Researchers in the Nordic Archaeal Network are at the heart of research in this area.

By following the links on the left, you can learn more about the members of the Nordic Archaeal Network and the research that takes place in the network‘s labs, read about the Nordic Archaeal Network meetings scheduled for 2009 and beyond, and learn about how we are using student exchanges to build research competences across the Nordic research area and encourage the sharing of best practice between labs. Requests for additional information can be made to the network coordinator or to individual network members.