The tree of life shows the relationship between all organisms based on their common ancestry. Until 1977, it comprised two major branches: prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Work by Carl Woese and other microbiologists led to the recategorization of prokaryotes and the proposal of three primary domains: Eukarya, Bacteria and Archaea. Microbiological, genetic and biochemical techniques were then needed to study the third domain of life. Haloferax volcanii, a halophilic species belonging to the phylum Euryarchaeota, has provided many useful tools to study Archaea, including easy culturing methods, genetic manipulation and phenotypic screening. This review will focus on DNA replication and DNA repair pathways in H. volcanii, how this work has advanced our knowledge of archaeal cellular biology, and how it may deepen our understanding of bacterial and eukaryotic processes.

生命之树显示了所有生物体之间基于共同祖先的关系。直到 1977 年，它包含两个主要分支：原核生物和真核生物。卡尔·沃斯和其他微生物学家的工作导致了原核生物的重新分类，并提出了三个主要领域：真核生物、细菌和古细菌。然后需要微生物学、遗传学和生化技术来研究生命的第三个领域。 Haloferax volcanii是一种属于广古菌门的嗜盐物种，为研究古菌提供了许多有用的工具，包括简单的培养方法、遗传操作和表型筛选。这篇综述将重点关注H. volcanii中的DNA复制和DNA修复途径、这项工作如何增进我们对古细菌细胞生物学的了解，以及它如何加深我们对细菌和真核过程的理解。