How are Halophile adapted to their environment?
Halophile organisms have strategies allowing them not only to withstand osmotic stress, but also to function better in the presence of salt, in spite of maintaining high intracellular concentrations of salt, partly due to the synthesis of compatible solutes that allow them to balance their osmotic pressure.
What is a halophilic environment?
Halophiles are the major inhabitants of hypersaline environment. These habitats are extreme and possess limited microbial diversity because of combined effects of many environmental factors primarily high salt concentrations and including temperatures, pH, low nutrient, and oxygen availability (Ventosa et al., 2015).
What is a halophilic microbe?
Halophiles are microorganisms that require certain concentrations of salt to survive, and they are found in both Eubacterial and Archaeal domains of life. In Eubacteria, halophiles are a very heterogeneous group, having members in at least eight different phyla.
What are halophilic and halotolerant microorganisms?
Halophiles are organisms that live in highly saline environments, and require the salinity to survive, while halotolerant organisms (belonging to different domains of life) can grow under saline conditions, but do not require elevated concentrations of salt for growth.
What are halophilic proteins?
Halophilic proteins are known to be highly stable. These proteins are rich in acidic amino acids which are located predominantly at the protein surface. The three-dimensional structure analyses showed that most of the acidic residues are found on the surface of these proteins which facilitates excess protein hydration.
What are the characteristics of halophilic bacteria that allows them to survive in an environment with high level of salinity?
To survive the high salinities, halophiles employ two differing strategies to prevent desiccation through osmotic movement of water out of their cytoplasm. Both strategies work by increasing the internal osmolarity of the cell.
What are Osmophilic microorganisms?
Osmophilic bacteria are defined as microorganisms capable to adapt in environments with high osmotic pressures, such as high sugar concentrations.
What are halotolerant microorganisms?
Halotolerant bacteria are those capable of growing in the absence as well as in the presence of relatively high salt concentrations (if growth extends above 2.5 M are known as extremely halotolerant; Kushner, 1978).
How do halophilic bacteria survive in environments which contain high concentrations of salt?
One mechanism halophiles use to survive in high concentrations of salt is the synthesis of osmoprotectants, which are also known as compatible solutes. These work by balancing the internal osmotic pressure with the external osmotic pressure, making the two solutions isotonic, or close to it.
What is a hypersaline environment?
Hypersaline environments have higher salinity than seawater and are found worldwide. Hypersaline systems are harsh environments that have salt concentrations much greater than that of seawater, often close to or exceeding salt saturation.