Phylogenetic structure of the prokaryotic domain: The primary kingdoms
Open accessAbstract
A phylogenetic analysis based upon ribosomal RNA sequence characterization reveals that living systems represent one of three aboriginal lines of descent: ( i ) the eubacteria, comprising all typical bacteria; ( ii ) the archaebacteria, containing methanogenic bacteria; and ( iii ) the urkaryotes, now represented in the cytoplasmic component of eukaryotic cells.
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The current three-domain classification was proposed by Carl Woese and colleagues in 1977 and later refined in 1990, based on the nucleotide sequence of the gene for the small ribosomal RNA subunit.
“The current three-domain classification was proposed by Carl Woese and colleagues in 1977 (Woese and Fox, 1977) and later refined in 1990 (Woese et al., 1990), based on the nucleotide sequence of the gene for the small ribosomal RNA subunit (“16S” rRNA for Bacteria and Archaea and “18S” rRNA for eukaryotes).”
From The Astrobiology Primer v2.0 (2016) · cites this paper as Woese and Fox, 1977
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- Authors
- Woese, C. R., & Fox, G. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- ORCID
- Fox, George E.
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 1977-11
- Volume
- 74
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 5088-5090
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC432104
- OpenAlex
- W2098386120
- Cited by
- 4,131
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 105 · 2025: 128 · 2024: 153 · 2023: 177 · 2022: 180 · 2021: 201 · 2020: 172 · 2019: 171 · 2018: 201 · 2017: 177 · 2016: 153 · 2015: 193 · 2014: 171 · 2013: 176 · 2012: 114
- FWCI
- 10.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protist diversity and phylogeny
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
- Keywords
- prokaryotic phylogeny, ribosomal RNA sequences, eubacteria, archaea, methanogenic archaea
- MeSH terms
- Bacteria, Cells, Eukaryotic Cells, Phenotype, Phylogeny, Prokaryotic Cells
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