section_path: Ecology/Interactions with other organisms
section_name: Interactions with other organisms
paragraph_text: Interactions with other organisms
  
  The well-characterized interactions between archaea and other organisms are either mutual or commensal. There are no clear examples of known archaeal pathogens or parasites, but some species of methanogens have been suggested to be involved in infections in the mouth, and Nanoarchaeum equitans may be a parasite of another species of archaea, since it only survives and reproduces within the cells of the Crenarchaeon Ignicoccus hospitalis, and appears to offer no benefit to its host.