page_title: Otto Kandler
section_title: Archaea and the three domains of life
hierarchical_section_title: Otto Kandler / Archaea and the three domains of life
caption_attribution_description: Español: Árbol filogenético de los 3 dominios biológicos según C. Woese et al. 1990English: Universal phylogenetic tree in rooted form, showing the three domains. According to C. Woese et al. 1990
context_page_description: Otto Kandler
  was a German botanist and microbiologist. Until his retirement in 1986 he was professor of botany at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.
  His most important research topics were photosynthesis, plant carbohydrate metabolism, analysis of the structure of bacterial cell walls, the systematics of Lactobacillus, and the chemotaxonomy of plants and microorganisms.
  He presented the first experimental evidence for the existence of photophosphorylation in vivo. His discovery of the basic differences between the cell walls of bacteria and archaea convinced him that archaea represent an autonomous group of organisms distinct from bacteria. This was the basis for his cooperation with Carl Woese and made him the founder of research on the Archaea in Germany. In 1990, together with Woese, he proposed the three domains of life: Bacteria, Archaea, Eucarya.
context_section_description: Otto Kandler's main subject in microbiology was his research on archaea (before 1990 called "archaebacteria").
  His discovery (October 1976) that peptidoglycan (murein), a typical cell wall component of bacteria, is missing in two strains of methanogenic "bacteria" (methanogens) became one of the first three pieces of evidence that methanogens belong to a group of organisms distinct from bacteria.
  Therefore, Kandler was delighted when he learned from a letter by Ralph F. Wolfe, expert on methanogens, on 11 November 1976, that Wolfe's colleague Carl Woese (University of Illinois, Urbana, USA) had just discovered basic differences between methanogens and bacteria with his novel 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing method.
  When Kandler received this letter, based on his new findings, he had already planned to investigate the cell walls of other methanogens together with Marvin P. Bryant, also an expert on methanogens from the University of Illinois. Coincidentally, Bryant was just sitting in Kandler's office when Wolfe's letter arrived.
  In his letter Wolfe also offered to send cultures for cell wall studies since he knew Kandler was a cell wall expert. Kandler wrote back immediately how impressed he was with Woese's findings and ideas and that he looked forward to investigate Wolfe's methanogens. In his reply Kandler also mentioned that methanogens and halophiles may be "ancient relics" that have branched off from the bulk of the prokaryotes before peptidoglycan had been "invented". He asked Wolfe to send him lyophilized cells of methanogens to analyse their cell walls.
  In January 1977, Kandler visited Woese for the first time. He was immediately convinced of Woese's new concept, for his cell wall analyses matched perfectly with Woese's 16S rRNA sequencing results. 
  This was the beginning of a close and productive transatlantic complementary relationship and cooperation by the exchange of cultures, results and ideas. Kandler's group studied the cell wall composition and Woese's group the 16S rRNA gene sequences.
  In their fundamental frequently cited publication, Woese and Fox (November 1977)
  introduced the term "archaebacteria", at that time, comprising only methanogens. They cited Kandler and named the very first three pieces of evidence for the concept of the "archaebacteria":
  lack of peptidoglycan in methanogens (Kandler)
  two unusual coenzymes in methanogens (Wolfe)
  unique rRNA sequences in methanogens (Woese).
  In this article they also used a preliminary terminology ("domains" for prokaryotes/eukaryotes; "primary kingdoms" or "urkingdoms" for the three groupings "eubacteria", "archaebacteria", and "urkaryotes" – since 1990 bacteria, archaea and eucarya, later corrected to eukarya).
  While Woese's proposal to subdivide organisms into "three lines of descent" at that time received little support – and even harsh criticism
  
  – in the USA, Kandler called Woese "the Darwin of the 20th century" and was convinced that research on "archaebacteria" had a great future.
  With great enthusiasm Kandler founded research on "archaebacteria" in Germany and organised funding for this novel field.
  In the spring of 1978, in Munich, Kandler organised the very first meeting on "archaebacteria". Carl Woese was invited, but was not able to participate.
  In the summer of 1979, Kandler invited Woese again to give a lecture at a meeting of the "Deutsche Gesellschaft für Mikrobiologie und Hygiene" in Munich. This time Woese participated. He came to Munich for the first time and was welcomed with fanfare, a brass band concert and a dinner party in the great entrance hall of the Botanical Institute of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (photo see "Life and education").
  The first international conference ever on "archaebacteria" was also organised by Kandler, again in Munich, in 1981. Both, Carl Woese and Ralph Wolfe took part. The resulting conference volume was the very first book on "archaebacteria".
  At this conference convincing evidence for essential structural, biochemical and molecular differences between bacteria and "archaebacteria" was pre
caption: Universal phylogenetic tree in rooted form, showing the three domains (Woese, Kandler & Wheelis, 1990, p. 4578[7])
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