Title: Archaea and Their Potential Role in Human Disease | Infection and Immunity
Headings: Archaea and Their Potential Role in Human Disease
Archaea and Their Potential Role in Human Disease
POTENTIAL PATHOGENICITY OF ARCHAEA
POTENTIAL ASSOCIATIONS OF ARCHAEA WITH HUMAN DISEASE
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE STUDIES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
KEYWORDS

Content: However, potential means for movement and attachment have been described. Unique flagella have been identified for many genera of archaea, and such flagella have more structural similarities to the type IV pili of bacteria than they do to bacterial flagella ( 55 ). Multiple archaeal genomes contain partial tad loci, which may encode Tad-like proteins involved in fibril formation and surface adherence ( 23 ). Pyrodictium species, which are disk-shaped hyperthermophilic crenarchaeotes, grow in culture as mycelium-like cell masses ( 33 ). A network of hollow flagellum-like filaments connects the Pyrodictium cells in a web-like arrangement, the purpose of which is unclear. It is possible such structures may be involved in host-microbe adherence or microbe-microbe interactions within a potential host. Once an archaeal pathogen reaches its specific host niche, it should be able to compete successfully with other endogenous flora for survival and persistence, in a manner similar to that of the known bacterial pathogens. Clues to the nature of archaeal interactions within the endogenous flora may be gleaned from recent studies of methanogen survival in arthropods. Methanogens have been identified in the hindguts of many terrestrial arthropods, including millipedes, cockroaches, termites, and scarab beetles ( 20 ). Three types of symbiosis have been described for such arthropods as follows: