Extremophiles

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Aniruddh Rabari ◽  
Janki A. Ruparelia ◽  
Chaitanya Kumar Jha
Keyword(s):  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Biotechnological Applications ◽  
Natural Life

Extremophiles are extreme nature devotees, mostly bacteria and archaea, which bloom with extreme environmental parameters like temperature, pH, pressure, and salinity. Extremophiles are responsible for the beginning of geographical structures throughout the evolution and establishment of all presently known ecological units. They are classified into several categories like acidophiles, alkaliphiles, psychrophiles, thermophiles, xerophiles, piezophiles/barophiles, halophiles, and many more, as given in this chapter. The subsistence of these microorganisms in extreme environments produces extremolytes and extremozymes that have the potential of valued resources for the enlargement of a bio-based economy. In addition to their solicitations, extremophiles offer treasured information regarding the physiochemical limitations of natural life. This chapter mainly evaluates extremophiles, the classification of extremophiles, and their biotechnological applications in grey, white, and red biotechnologies with the perspective of exploring celestial life.

scholarly journals Combing Transcriptomes for Secrets of Deep-Sea Survival: Environmental Diversity Drives Patterns of Protein Evolution

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 786-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
J R Winnikoff ◽  
W R Francis ◽  
E V Thuesen ◽  
S H D Haddock
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Amino Acid Level ◽  
Hydrophobic Effect ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Acid Sites ◽  
Temperature Adaptation ◽  
Environmental Diversity ◽  
Cofactor Binding ◽  
Ideal System

AbstractCtenophores, also known as comb jellies, live across extremely broad ranges of temperature and hydrostatic pressure in the ocean. Because various ctenophore lineages adapted independently to similar environmental conditions, Phylum Ctenophora is an ideal system for the study of protein adaptation to extreme environments in a comparative framework. We present such a study here, using a phylogenetically-informed method to compare sequences of four essential metabolic enzymes across gradients of habitat depth and temperature. This method predicts convergent adaptation to these environmental parameters at the amino acid level, providing a novel view of protein adaptation to extreme environments and demonstrating the power and relevance of phylogenetic comparison applied to multi-species transcriptomic datasets from early-diverging metazoa. Across all four enzymes analyzed, 46 amino acid sites were associated with depth-adaptation, 59 with temperature-adaptation, and 56 with both. Sites predicted to be depth- and temperature-adaptive occurred consistently near Rossmann fold cofactor binding motifs and disproportionately in solvent-exposed regions of the protein. These results suggest that the hydrophobic effect and ligand binding may mediate efficient enzyme function at different hydrostatic pressures and temperatures. Using predicted adaptive site maps, such mechanistic hypotheses can now be tested via mutagenesis.

scholarly journals The Cell Membrane of Sulfolobus spp.—Homeoviscous Adaption and Biotechnological Applications

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 3935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Rastädter ◽  
David J. Wurm ◽  
Oliver Spadiut ◽  
Julian Quehenberger
Keyword(s):  
Cell Membrane ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Specific Growth ◽  
Membrane Lipids ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Coping Mechanism ◽  
Biotechnological Applications ◽  
Head Groups ◽  
Tetraether Lipids ◽  
Archaeal Lipids

The microbial cell membrane is affected by physicochemical parameters, such as temperature and pH, but also by the specific growth rate of the host organism. Homeoviscous adaption describes the process of maintaining membrane fluidity and permeability throughout these environmental changes. Archaea, and thereby, Sulfolobus spp. exhibit a unique lipid composition of ether lipids, which are altered in regard to the ratio of diether to tetraether lipids, number of cyclopentane rings and type of head groups, as a coping mechanism against environmental changes. The main biotechnological application of the membrane lipids of Sulfolobus spp. are so called archaeosomes. Archaeosomes are liposomes which are fully or partly generated from archaeal lipids and harbor the potential to be used as drug delivery systems for vaccines, proteins, peptides and nucleic acids. This review summarizes the influence of environmental parameters on the cell membrane of Sulfolobus spp. and the biotechnological applications of their membrane lipids.

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