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Domain (biology)
 
 
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In biological
Biology

Biology is a branch of the natural sciences concerned with the study of living organisms and their interaction with each other and their environment ....
 taxonomy
Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification. The word comes from the Greek language ', taxis and ', nomos .Taxonomies, or taxonomic schemes, are composed of taxonomic units known as taxa , or kinds of things that are arranged frequently in a hierarchical structure....
, a domain (also superregnum, superkingdom, or empire) is the highest taxonomic rank
Taxonomic rank

Taxonomic rank, taxonomic category, rank, or category is an abstract term used in the scientific classification, or taxonomy, of organisms....
 of organism
Organism

In biology, an organism is any life thing . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimulus , reproduction, growth and developmental biology, and maintenance of homeostasis as a stable whole....
s, higher than a kingdom
Kingdom (biology)

In Biology taxonomy, kingdom or regnum is a taxonomic rank in either the highest rank, or the Rank below domain . Each kingdom is divided into smaller groups called Phylum ....
. According to the three-domain system
Three-domain system

The three-domain system is a biological classification introduced by Carl Woese in 1990 that divides cellular life forms into archaea, bacteria, and eukaryote domain s....
 of Carl Woese
Carl Woese

Carl Richard Woese is an American microbiologist and physicist. Woese is famous for defining the Archaea in 1977 by phylogenetic taxonomy of Svedberg ribosome RNA, a technique pioneered by Woese and which is now standard practice....
, introduced in 1990, the Tree of Life
Tree of life (science)

Charles Darwin believed that phylogeny, the ascent of all species through time, was expressible as a metaphor he termed the Tree of Life. The modern development of this idea is called the Phylogenetic tree....
 consists of three domains: Archaea
Archaea

The Archaea are a group of single-celled microorganisms. A single individual or species from this domain is called an archaeon . Archaea, like bacteria, are prokaryotic....
, Bacteria
Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
 and Eukarya. The arrangement of taxa
Taxon

A taxon or taxonomic unit is a name designating an organism or a group of organisms. In biological nomenclature according to Carl Linnaeus, a taxon is assigned a taxonomic rank and can be placed at a particular level in a systematic hierarchy reflecting evolutionary relationships....
 reflects the fundamental evolutionary differences in the genome
Genome

In classical genetics, the genome of a diploid organism including eukarya refers to a full set of chromosomes or genes in a gamete; thereby, a regular somatic cell contains two full sets of genomes....
s.






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In biological
Biology

Biology is a branch of the natural sciences concerned with the study of living organisms and their interaction with each other and their environment ....
 taxonomy
Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification. The word comes from the Greek language ', taxis and ', nomos .Taxonomies, or taxonomic schemes, are composed of taxonomic units known as taxa , or kinds of things that are arranged frequently in a hierarchical structure....
, a domain (also superregnum, superkingdom, or empire) is the highest taxonomic rank
Taxonomic rank

Taxonomic rank, taxonomic category, rank, or category is an abstract term used in the scientific classification, or taxonomy, of organisms....
 of organism
Organism

In biology, an organism is any life thing . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimulus , reproduction, growth and developmental biology, and maintenance of homeostasis as a stable whole....
s, higher than a kingdom
Kingdom (biology)

In Biology taxonomy, kingdom or regnum is a taxonomic rank in either the highest rank, or the Rank below domain . Each kingdom is divided into smaller groups called Phylum ....
. According to the three-domain system
Three-domain system

The three-domain system is a biological classification introduced by Carl Woese in 1990 that divides cellular life forms into archaea, bacteria, and eukaryote domain s....
 of Carl Woese
Carl Woese

Carl Richard Woese is an American microbiologist and physicist. Woese is famous for defining the Archaea in 1977 by phylogenetic taxonomy of Svedberg ribosome RNA, a technique pioneered by Woese and which is now standard practice....
, introduced in 1990, the Tree of Life
Tree of life (science)

Charles Darwin believed that phylogeny, the ascent of all species through time, was expressible as a metaphor he termed the Tree of Life. The modern development of this idea is called the Phylogenetic tree....
 consists of three domains: Archaea
Archaea

The Archaea are a group of single-celled microorganisms. A single individual or species from this domain is called an archaeon . Archaea, like bacteria, are prokaryotic....
, Bacteria
Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
 and Eukarya. The arrangement of taxa
Taxon

A taxon or taxonomic unit is a name designating an organism or a group of organisms. In biological nomenclature according to Carl Linnaeus, a taxon is assigned a taxonomic rank and can be placed at a particular level in a systematic hierarchy reflecting evolutionary relationships....
 reflects the fundamental evolutionary differences in the genome
Genome

In classical genetics, the genome of a diploid organism including eukarya refers to a full set of chromosomes or genes in a gamete; thereby, a regular somatic cell contains two full sets of genomes....
s. There are some alternative classifications of life
Life

Life is a characteristic of organisms that exhibit certain biological processes such as chemical reactions or other events that results in a transformation....
:

  • The two-empire system
    Two-empire system

    The two-empire system was the top-level biological classification system in general use before the establishment of the three-domain system. It classified cellular life into Prokaryota and Eukaryota....
     or Superdomain system, with top-level groupings of Prokaryota (or Monera
    Monera

    Monera are bacteria and other mostly tiny, single-celled organisms whose genetic material is loose in the cell. The genetic material of plants, animals, and other eukaryotes , on the other hand, is held in the cell's nucleus....
    ) and Eukaryota
    Eukaryote

    Animals, plants, fungus, and protists are eukaryotes , organisms whose Cell are organized into complex structures enclosed within Cell membrane....
     empires.
  • The six-kingdom system
    Kingdom (biology)

    In Biology taxonomy, kingdom or regnum is a taxonomic rank in either the highest rank, or the Rank below domain . Each kingdom is divided into smaller groups called Phylum ....
     with top-level groupings of Eubacteria
    Bacteria

    The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
    , Archaebacteria
    Archaea

    The Archaea are a group of single-celled microorganisms. A single individual or species from this domain is called an archaeon . Archaea, like bacteria, are prokaryotic....
    , Protist
    Protist

    Protists ; eukaryote microorganisms. Historically, protists were treated as the kingdom Protista but this group is no longer recognized in modern taxonomy....
    a, Fungi
    Fungus

    A fungus is a Eukaryote organism that is a member of the Kingdom Fungi . The fungi are a monophyletic group, also called the Eumycota , that is phylogeny distinct from the morphologically similar slime molds and water molds ....
    , Plant
    Plant

    Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
    ae, and Animal
    Animal

    Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
    ia.


As these groupings depend primarily on the analysis of genetic sequence data and cladistics
Cladistics

Cladistics is the hierarchical classification of species based on evolutionary ancestry. Cladistics is distinguished from other taxonomic systems because it focuses on evolution rather than similarities between species, and because it places heavy emphasis on objective, quantitative analysis....
, additional proposed arrangements are to be expected.

See also

  • Phylogenetics
    Phylogenetics

    In biology, phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relatedness among various groups of organisms , which is discovered through molecular sequencing data and morphological data matrices....
  • Systematics
    Systematics

    Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of life on the planet Earth, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time....