Extremophilic microbes

Extremophiles Microbes that can grow under very adverse environment conditions. Classifications include thermopiules (temperature > 40°C), acidoplfiles (pH < 2), alkalophiles (pH > 11), halophiles (salt > 20% w/v), baroptules (pressure > 100 atm), and psycroplfiles (temperature < 20°C). 

Extremophilic microbes (extremophiles) abound in extreme habitats, such as acidophiles (acidic sulfurous hot springs), alkalophiles (alkaline lakes), halophiles (salt lakes), piezo (baro)- and (hyper)thermophiles (deep-sea vents), ° and... 

Deep ocean hydrothermal vent systems are a relatively new geological discovery and over the past two to three decades have provided a wealth of information about the cooling of the oceanic crust, the formation of massive sulfide mineral deposits, and have revealed a whole new biota including extremophile microbes. We now know that oceanic hydrothermal vents... 

Butler, L.G., Enzymes in non-aqueous solvents. Enzyme Microb. Technol., 1979,1, 253-259. Gerard A. Sellek, G.A. and Chaudhuri, J.B., Biocatalysis in organic media using enzymes from extremophiles. Enzyme Microb. Technol., 1999, 25, 471-482. 

Bacteria-like microbes found in extreme environments ( extremophiles ) were sometimes presumed to belong exclusively to the specialized domain known as Archaea. However, it has transpired that the arrangement of microbes in ecological niches was not as simple as this - many Archaea have been found in temperate zones and in ecosystems similar to those occupied by bacteria, and some conventional microbes occupy extreme environments. 

Microbial life is now known to exist on Earth in all sorts of improbable settings. These are the extremophiles. Extremophiles are those microbes which exist in the hottest and coldest environments on Earth, and in places deeper than we imagined life could exist a decade or two ago. Thus the question of where life began is perhaps more open than it has been for a long time. 

Extremophiles - dedicated to the organisms found in extreme environments. A few examples of microbial extremophiles are listed below. This is only a small sample of the unusual microbes that have been found in unexpected ecosystems. 

One goal of current research is to obtain useful enzymes from extremophiles, the microbes that function in these extreme environments. The process used by one company to obtain commercially useful enzymes consists of the following steps ... 

Johnston W, Cooney MJ, Liaw BY, Sapra R, Adams MWW. Design and characterization of redox enzyme electrodes new perspectives on established techniques with application to an extremophilic hydrogenase. Enzyme Microb Technol 2005 36 540-549. 

However, there are organisms that live under extreme physical or geochemical conditions, the extremophiles. Most of them are microbes including representatives of all three domains (Bacteria, Archaea, andEucarya). Some types of extremophiles are listed in Table 2.1. 

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