Probably the Least Cute Genome Ever

German scientists have used whole genome shotgun sequencing to reconstruct a korarchaeal genome, that of Candidatus Korarchaeum cryptofilum. Their work was published in PNAS this week. Using phylogenetic analysis and comparing the sequence to its ancestral archaeal phyla, Crenarchaeota and Euryarchaeota, the researchers found that several cellular systems, such as such as cell division, DNA replication, and tRNA maturation, resemble those of the Euryarchaeota. "In light of the known composition of archaeal genomes, the Korarchaeota might have retained a set of cellular features that represents the ancestral archaeal form," they say in the abstract.