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The halophiles, named after the Greek word for "salt-loving", are extremophiles that thrive in high salt concentrations. While most halophiles are classified into the domain Archaea, there are also bacterial halophiles and some eukaryotic species, such as the alga Dunaliella salina and fungus Wallemia ichthyophaga. Some well-known species give off a red color from carotenoid compounds, notably bacteriorhodopsin. Halophiles can be found in water bodies with salt concentration more than five times greater than that of the ocean, such as the Great Salt Lake in Utah, Owens Lake in California, the Urmia Lake in Iran, the Dead Sea, and in evaporation ponds. They are theorized to be a possible analogues for modeling extremophiles that might live in the salty subsurface water ocean of Jupiter's Europa and similar moons.
Halobacterium is a genus in the family Halobacteriaceae.
Halobacterium salinarum, formerly known as Halobacterium cutirubrum or Halobacterium halobium, is an extremely halophilic marine obligate aerobic archaeon. Despite its name, this is not a bacterium, but a member of the domain Archaea. It is found in salted fish, hides, hypersaline lakes, and salterns. As these salterns reach the minimum salinity limits for extreme halophiles, their waters become purple or reddish color due to the high densities of halophilic Archaea. H. salinarum has also been found in high-salt food such as salt pork, marine fish, and sausages. The ability of H. salinarum to survive at such high salt concentrations has led to its classification as an extremophile.
Halopiger is a genus of archaeans in the family Natrialbaceae that have high tolerance to salinity.
Halorubrum is a genus in the family Halorubraceae. Halorubrum species areusually halophilic and can be found in waters with high salt concentration such as the Dead Sea or Lake Zabuye.
In taxonomy, Halovivax is a genus of the Natrialbaceae. Some species of Halovivax are halophiles and have been found in Iran's Aran-Bidgol hypersaline lake.
In taxonomy, Natrialba is a genus of the Natrialbaceae. The genus consists of many diverse species that can survive extreme environmental niches, especially they are capable to live in the waters saturated or nearly saturated with salt (halophiles). They have certain adaptations to live within their salty environments. For example, their cellular machinery is adapted to high salt concentrations by having charged amino acids on their surfaces, allowing the cell to keep its water molecules around these components. The osmotic pressure and these amino acids help to control the amount of salt within the cell.
Natrinema is a genus of the Natrialbaceae.
Halocins are bacteriocins produced by halophilic Archaea and a type of archaeocin.
Picrophilus torridus is a species of Archaea described in 1996. Picrophilus torridus was found in soil near a hot spring in Hokkaido, Japan. The pH of the soil was less than 0.5. P. torridus also has one of the smallest genomes found among organisms that are free-living and are non-parasitic and a high coding density, meaning that the majority of its genes are coding regions and provide instructions for building proteins. The current research suggests the two hostile conditions favored by P. torridus have exerted selective pressure towards having a small and compact genome, which is less likely to be damaged by the harsh environment.
Haloferax volcanii is a species of organism in the genus Haloferax in the Archaea.
Haloquadratum walsbyi is of the genus Haloquadratum, within the archaea domain known for its square halophilic nature. First discovered in a brine pool in the Sinai peninsula of Egypt, H. walsbyi is noted for its flat, square-shaped cells, and its unusual ability to survive in aqueous environments with high concentrations of sodium chloride and magnesium chloride. The species' genus name Haloquadratum translates from Greek and Latin as "salt square". This archaean is also commonly referred to as "Walsby's Square Bacterium" because of its identifying square shape which makes it unique. In accordance with its name, Haloquadratum walsbyi are most abundantly observed in salty environments.
Halobaculum gomorrense is a rod-shaped extremely halophilic archaeon first isolated from the Dead Sea.
Halococcus dombrowskii is an archaeon first isolated from a Permian alpine salt deposit. It is an extremely halophilic coccoid with type strain H4T.
Halobacterium noricense is a halophilic, rod-shaped microorganism that thrives in environments with salt levels near saturation. Despite the implication of the name, Halobacterium is actually a genus of archaea, not bacteria. H. noricense can be isolated from environments with high salinity such as the Dead Sea and the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Members of the Halobacterium genus are excellent model organisms for DNA replication and transcription due to the stability of their proteins and polymerases when exposed to high temperatures. To be classified in the genus Halobacterium, a microorganism must exhibit a membrane composition consisting of ether-linked phosphoglycerides and glycolipids.
Halobiforma haloterrestris is an extremely halophilic member of the Halobacteria and the type species of the genus Halobiforma. H. haloterrestris is aerobic and motile. The cells are red-pigmented, neutrophilic and show rod, coccus and slightly pleomorphic morphology.
Haloferax larsenii is a gram-negative, aerobic, neutrophilic, extremely halophilic archaeon. It was named in honor of Professor Helge Larsen, who pioneered research on halophiles.
Salinibacter ruber is an extremely halophilic red bacterium, first found in Spain in 2002.
Shiladitya DasSarma is a molecular biologist well-known for contributions to the biology of halophilic and extremophilic microorganisms. He is a Professor in the University of Maryland Baltimore. He earned a PhD degree in Biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BS degree in Chemistry from Indiana University Bloomington. Prior to taking a faculty position, he conducted research at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Pasteur Institute, Paris.
Haloterrigena longa is a species of archaea in the family Natrialbaceae. It was isolated from Aibi Salt Lake in Xinjiang, China in 2006.
References
- ↑ Xin, H.; Itoh, T.; Zhou, P.; Suzuki, K.; Kamekura, M.; Nakase, T. (2000). "Natrinema versiforme sp. nov., an extremely halophilic archaeon from Aibi salt lake, Xinjiang, China". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 50 (3): 1297–1303. doi: 10.1099/00207713-50-3-1297 . ISSN 1466-5026. PMID 10843075.
