where can halophiles be found

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.

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What is a halophile?

Why do halophiles expend energy?

What are the molecular signatures of halophiles?

How do halophilic bacteria work?

What alga can proliferate in saltern ponds?

What is the salt content of halophiles?

What is the color of halophiles?

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Where can u find halophiles?

Halophiles thrive in places such as the Great Salt Lake, Owens Lake in California, evaporation ponds, and the Dead Sea – places that provide an inhospitable environment to most lifeforms. Figure: Dead Sea: Salt builds up along the Dead Sea.

What are the 3 types of halophiles and where are they found?

According to their degrees of salt requirements, halophiles are classified into three groups: slight (0.34–0.85 M salt), moderate (0.85–3.4 M salt), and extreme halophiles (3.4–5.1 M salt) [2].

Are halophiles in the ocean?

Halophiles thrive from sea salinity (~0.6 M) up to saturation salinity (>5 M NaCl), and include Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya [1]. Many halophilic microorganisms have been isolated from diverse environments, ranging from artificial solar salterns, to natural brines in coastal and submarine pools, and deep salt mines.

What are some examples of halophiles?

Halobacter... salinarumHaloferax volcaniiDunaliella salinaSalinibacter ruberHortaea werneckiiTetrageno... halophilusHalophile/Representative species

Do halophiles live in hot environments?

The halophiles, which means "salt-loving," live in environments with high levels of salt. The thermophiles live in extremely hot environments.

Where do halophiles grow best?

Bacterial halophiles are abundant in environments such as salt lakes, saline soils, and salted food products.

Do halophiles live in the Dead Sea?

A majority of prokaryotes in the Dead Sea are halophiles. The first microorganisms in the Dead Sea were identified in the 1930's and included algae, protozoa, and ciliates as well as microbes belonging to the domains Bacteria and Archaea [11].

What environment do halophiles prefer?

Ecologically, the halophilic microorganisms inhabit different ecosystems characterized by a salinity higher than seawater, i.e., 3.5% NaCl, these niches go from hypersaline soils, springs, salt lakes, sabkhas, and other naturally-occurring coastal saline habitats, marshes, marine abyssal sediments to endophytes [12].

What are halophiles and where do they live?

Halophiles are chemo-organotrophic Euryarchaeota that are often the predominant organisms in salt lakes, pools of evaporating seawater, solar salterns and other hypersaline environments with salt concentrations as high as halite saturation (e.g., Oren, 2002).

Where can thermophiles be found?

Thermophilic bacteria are those that thrive within high temperatures, usually between 45 and 80 C (113 and 176F) and are found in environments such as hot springs, peat bogs, and near deep-sea hydrothermal vents.

Where do facultative halophiles live?

Halophilic microorganisms are salt-loving extremophilic organisms that grow optimally at high salt concentrations. They were found [6] mainly in marine salterns and hypersaline lakes, such as the Great Salt Lake and the Dead Sea.

What are the 4 types of archaea?

The major types of Archaebacteria are discussed below:Crenarchaeota. The Crenarchaeota are Archaea, which exist in a broad range of habitats. ... Euryarchaeota. ... Korarchaeota. ... Thaumarchaeota. ... Nanoarchaeota.

What does halophile mean? - definitions

Definition of halophile in the Definitions.net dictionary. Meaning of halophile. What does halophile mean? Information and translations of halophile in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web.

halophile | biology | Britannica

Other articles where halophile is discussed: archaea: Characteristics of the archaea: For example, halophilic archaea appear to be able to thrive in high-salt environments because they house a special set of genes encoding enzymes for a metabolic pathway that limits osmosis. That metabolic pathway, known as the methylaspartate pathway, represents a unique type of anaplerosis (the process of…

Halophiles: biology, adaptation, and their role in ... - PubMed

The unique cellular enzymatic machinery of halophilic microbes allows them to thrive in extreme saline environments. That these microorganisms can prosper in hypersaline environments has been correlated with the elevated acidic amino acid content in their proteins, which increase the negative protei …

Halophile - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

Jane A. Irwin, in Physiological and Biotechnological Aspects of Extremophiles, 2020 6.5.1 Habitats and diversity. Halophiles include bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. One definition of halophile is that of Oren [135], who defines them as microorganisms with optimal growth at NaCl concentrations over 0.2 M. Halotolerance ranges widely, from marine organisms that grow at about 3.5% (w/v) NaCl ...

Where are halophiles found?

Eukaryotes are more complex organisms with a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles. Halophiles are found in salty places, such as the Great Salt Lake in Utah and the Dead Sea.

What is halophiles in biology?

Lesson Summary. Halophiles are microorganisms that require high levels of salt in order to be able to complete all of their life functions and survive. Most of the halophiles that have been discovered are simple prokaryotic organism, while others are eukaryotes.

What are some examples of halophiles?

While there are not a lot of known species of halophiles, the ones that have been discovered are quite diverse. One common example of a halophile is Halobacterium. It is a member of the domain Archaea and is found in bodies of water with extremely high concentrations of salt. Scientists have discovered that many of the proteins in the bacteria cannot function if they are not exposed to high concentrations of salt. These bacteria are either spherical or rod-shaped and can be colored red or purple.

Which domain contains prokaryotic organisms?

Domain Archaea contains single-celled ancient prokaryotic microorganisms. This means they are all composed of one cell and do not have a nucleus or membrane-bound organelles in the cells. They are very primitive. Domain Bacteria contains more recent organisms in the history of Earth.

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What is Derrick's degree?

Lesson Transcript. Derrick has taught biology and chemistry at both the high school and college level. He has a master's degree in science education. Some organisms thrive in conditions that would be impossible for the rest of us. In this lesson, you will learn about a group of unique organisms known as the halophiles.

Where can halobacterium be found?

Halobacterium have been found in the Great Salt Lake as well as the Dead Sea. Astrobiologists are also studying the possibility of these organisms being found on Mars. They believe they could survive there, due to the abundance of salt that has been found. They believe the bacteria could survive if it encrusts itself in the salt to avoid exposure to ultraviolet light. This makes these ancient bacteria very significant in a modern world.

What is the orthogonal tRNA synthetase?

The first orthogonal E. coli tRNA–synthetase pair generated from archaeal bacteria was derived from the tyrosyl pair taken from Methanococcus jannaschii. 16 In vitro experiments showed that the major recognition elements of M. jannaschii tRNA Tyr include the discriminator base A73 and the first base pair, C1-G72, in the acceptor stem ( Figure 2 (a) ). The anticodon triplet participates only weakly in identity determination. By contrast, E. coli tRNA Tyr uses A73, G1-C72, a long variable arm, and the anticodon as identity elements. The M. jannaschii tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase ( Mj TyrRS) also has a minimalist anticodon loop binding domain, 17 making it possible to change the anticodon loop of its cognate tRNA to CUA with little loss in affinity by the synthetase. In addition, the TyrRS does not have an editing mechanism, which removes amino acids misacylated onto the cognate tRNA Tyr. This lack of the editing function can prevent unnatural amino acid from being deacylated from the orthogonal tRNA. Indeed, an amber suppressor M. jannaschii tRNA CUA Tyr MjtRNA CUA Tyr and its cognate Mj TyrRS were shown to function efficiently in translation in E. coli, but some degree of aminoacylation of this MjtRNA CUA Tyr by endogenous E. coli synthetases was observed. 18

What are the unicellular green algae?

The unicellular green algae belonging to genus Dunaliella, brine shrimps ( Artemia salina, Artemia franciscana ), meristematic fungus ( Trimmatostroma salinum) and black yeast ( Hortea werneckii) have been reported from saltern brine and the hypersaline environments [20–22]. Similarly, other members belonging to Eukarya living in high-salt environment have been even more neglected, irrespective of their existence for a long time [23,24]. Several different halophilic flagellates were characterized from the Korean saltern ponds [25], out of which Pleurostomum flabellatum (optimum 300 g/L; [26]) and Halocafetaria seosinensis (optimum 150 g/L; [27]) have been characterized in-depth. Within the evolutionary relationships of bacterial and archaeal domains based on 16S rRNA gene sequences ( Fig. 11.1 ), three groups of prokaryotes belonging to order Halobacteriales, family Halobacteriaceae and Halomonadaceae were found to be coherent at both the phylogenetic and physiological scale consisting entirely the members of halophiles. The family Halobacteriaceae [28] and Halomonadaceae [29] consists majority of members belonging to aerobic heterotrophs with some facultative aerobe members. The third group belonging to order Halanaerobiales consists of anaerobic fermentative bacteria and mostly live by fermentation of sugars and amino acids [13]. Many salt requiring species have been validly named and characterized from the family Halobacteriaceae (>90 species), Halomonadaceae (>60 species), while least number of species are reported from order Halanaerobiales (<25 species) ( http://www.bacterio.net/-classifphyla.html ). Both the classification and the phylogenetic view of halophiles can be traced back only to culturable isolates, and thus signifies a greater void of halophilic diversity which have not been isolated till date. Most of the members of halophiles which have been characterized till date are being difficult to isolate and maintain because of their slow growth patterns on solid media. The optimum growth patterns of some of the isolates normally take 3–4 weeks for proper growth which somehow hinders the isolation of extremely halophilic strains. This view was further supported by genomic and metagenomics studies of different hypersaline environments such as Great Salt Lake, Dead Sea, saltern evaporation and crystallizer ponds which clearly showed that many halophilic prokaryotes still await to be isolated and characterized [30,31]. But the isolation of these uncultivated halophiles are still possible using appropriate skill and patience using a combination of culture dependent and high throughput cultivation approaches [32–34].

What is the classification of a prokaryotic organism?

According to the classification scheme, an organism can be considered as non-halophile, halotolerant and halophilic (Table 11.1 ). Based on properties such as minimum salt requirement, optimum salt requirement and the upper salinity tolerance found in the prokaryote world, it is sometime impossible to define a sharp boundary for the classification of what a halophile is. This continuum of salinity range in case of halophile group has led to its classification ranging from slight, moderate, borderline extreme and extreme halophile ( Table 11.1 ). As per the classification scheme, there are a total of six different classes each with specific properties towards salinity conditions ( Table 11.1 ). The different category of prokaryotes has been divided based on the optimum salinity requirement in the microbiological media ( Table 11.1 ). The present classification is based on the requirement of NaCl concentration and thus requires revision as some of the organisms do survive especially in athalassohaline environment where the importance of other ions such as Mg 2+ and Ca 2+ are more relevant [12]. Some of the environments belonging to Dead Sea, Mediterranean Sea and deep-sea hypersaline brines are rich in magnesium/calcium ions, thereby supporting the claim of classification revision which is based solely on NaCl response [9]. The members of halophiles have been well distributed among all the three domains of life ( Fig. 11.1; [13] ). The evolutionary relationship among the three domains of life based on small subunit phylogenetic gene marker (16S rRNA gene in Bacteria / Archaea and 18S rRNA gene in Eukarya) showed well differentiated clades, and the members of halophiles represented in bold with bold line in the phylogenetic tree can grow at ≥15% NaCl concentration ( Fig. 11.1 ).

How do halophilic organisms cope with salt?

One strategy involves accumulation of K+ and Cl − ions to maintain osmotic balance. This is used by haloarchaea of the family Halobacteriaceae such as the denitrifier Haloferax mediterranei or by members of the Halanaerobiales in the domain Bacteria [ 28 ]. The presence of high intracellular salt concentrations requires far-reaching adaptations of the enzymatic machinery so as to be active at high molar salt concentration [ 29 ]. In the second, widely used, strategy of osmotic adaptation, organisms exclude salts from the cytoplasm and accumulate organic solutes (sugar alcohols, amino acids and derivates such as glycine, betaine and ectoine) to provide the osmotic balance [ 30 ]. The excretion of sodium ions from the interior of the cells is achieved by Na + /H + antiporters [ 28 ]. The major stress factor for organisms thriving in NaCl, sodic or potash soils does not appear to be the salt itself, but the extremely negative water potential of such soils, as noted by earlier botanists for the halophytes [ 31 ]. The dissociated ionised salts strongly bind water, which then can hardly be mobilised by the organisms for their growth, particularly under longer periods of drought. This “physiological drought” may be the major cause for the inability of most organisms to thrive in saline habitats.

How are flagella different from bacteria?

They have smaller dimensions than their bacterial equivalents and their axial filaments contain different proteins. The diameter of archaeal flagella is about 10 nm, whereas this is 24 nm for the bacterial organelles ( Figure 8 ). Another difference is that their proteins are often glycosylated. Presumably, this is related to the requirement to sustain extreme growth conditions, be it high salinity or high temperature. Note that probably for the same reason S-layer s proteins of archaea are also glycosylated. Likewise, the N-termini of archaeal flagellin and bacterial pilin show significant homology. Moreover, the architecture of archaeal flagella bears resemblance to that of bacterial type IV pili ( Figure 9 ). This has led to the insight that the term flagellum in the archael context represents a misnomer. A recent proposal has been to coin the term archaellum.

What is the genome of Halobacterium?

The first complete genome sequence of an extreme halophile was that of Halobacterium sp. NRC-1 (ATCC 700922), harboring a dynamic 2.57 Mbp genome with a 2.01 Mbp circular chromosome and two related large extrachromosomal DNA circles, pNRC100, 191 kb, and pNRC200, 365 kb. The genome was found to be GC-rich (65.9%) and contained 91 transposable IS elements, representing 12 families. The Halobacterium NRC-1 genome coded 2630 predicted proteins, 36% of which were unrelated to any previously reported. Analysis of the genome sequence showed the presence of pathways for uptake and utilization of amino acids, active sodium–proton antiporter and potassium uptake systems, and sophisticated photosensory and signal transduction pathways. Its DNA replication, transcription, and translation systems resembled more complex eucaryal organisms. Phylogenetic studies showed that a substantial fraction (up to 15%) of genes coded for proteins with similarity to a variety of Bacteria, indicating that it contains a high fraction of laterally transferred genes. Methods have been developed for facile cultivation and genetic manipulation of this aerobic mesophile, including construction of gene knockouts and replacements. As a result of its ease of laboratory culturing and study, it has become a popular model among haloarchaea and for classroom teaching.

Which phage has antisense RNA?

The first and, to our knowledge, only case of antisense RNA control in archea was found in a phage, ϕH, of the extreme halophile Halobacterium salinarum ( Stolt and Zillig, 1993a ). When phage ϕH is in a lysogenic state, it accumulates an antisense RNA, T ant, which is complementary to T1, an early lytic mRNA. In response to T ant, T1 RNA levels are decreased. Degradation of T1 has been shown to be dependent on cleavage by a host-encoded structure-specific ds/ss-RNase. The biological consequences of this control circuit are still elusive ( Stolt and Zillig, 1993b ).

Why are halophiles important in bioremediation?

That these microorganisms can prosper in hypersaline environments has been correlated with the elevated acidic amino acid content in their proteins, which increase the negative protein surface potential. Because these microorganisms effectively use hydrocarbons as their sole carbon and energy sources, they may prove to be valuable bioremediation agents for the treatment of saline effluents and hypersaline waters contaminated with toxic compounds that are resistant to degradation. This review highlights the various strategies adopted by halophiles to compensate for their saline surroundings and includes descriptions of recent studies that have used these microorganisms for bioremediation of environments contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons. The known halotolerant dehalogenase-producing microbes, their dehalogenation mechanisms, and how their proteins are stabilized is also reviewed. In view of their robustness in saline environments, efforts to document their full potential regarding remediation of contaminated hypersaline ecosystems merits further exploration.

Why do microorganisms thrive in hypersaline environments?

That these microorganisms can prosper in hypersaline environments has been correlated with the elevated acidic amino acid content in their proteins, which increase the negative protein surface potential. Because these microorganisms effectively use hydrocarbons as their sole carbon and energy sources, they may prove to be valuable bioremediation ...

Can halophilic microbes survive in hypersaline environments?

The unique cellular enzymatic machinery of halophilic microbes allows them to thrive in extreme saline environments. That these microorganisms can prosper in hypersaline environments has been correlated with the elevated acidic amino acid content in their proteins, which increase the negative protei …

Where is the 3Department of Biotechnology and Medical Engineering located?

3Department of Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, Faculty of Biosciences and Medical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. [email protected].

What is a halophile?

Halophiles are extremophiles that thrive in environments with very high concentrations of salt (at least 2 M, approximately ten times the salt level of ocean water). The name comes from Greek for "salt-loving". Some halophiles are classified into the Archaea kingdom, but there are bacterial halophiles as well. Some well-known species give off a red color due to the carotenoid compounds. These species contain the photosynthetic pigment bacteriorhodopsin. Organisms are categorized either slight, moderate or extreme, by the extent of their halotolerance .

What is the family of halobacteriaceae?

Haloarchaea, and particularly, the family Halobacteriaceae are members of the domain Archaea, and comprise the majority of the prokaryotic population in hypersaline environments. There are currently 15 recognised genera in the family. The domain Bacteria (mainly Salinibacter ruber) can comprise up to 25% of the prokaryotic community, but is more commonly a much lower percentage of the overall population. At times, the alga Dunaliella salina can also proliferate in this environment.

What is the second radical adaptation?

The second, more radical, adaptation involves the selective influx of K + ions into the cytoplasm. This adaptation is restricted to the moderately halophilic bacterial Order Halanerobiales, the extremely halophilic archaeal Family Halobacteriaceae and the extremely halophilic bacterium Salinibacter ruber. The presence of this adaptation in three distinct evolutionary lineages suggests convergent evolution of this strategy, it being unlikely to be an ancient characteristic retained in only scattered groups or through massive lateral gene transfer . The primary reason for this is that the entire intracellular machinery (enzymes, structural proteins etc) must be adapted to high salt levels, whereas in the compatible solute adaptation little or no adjustment is required to intracellular macromolecules – in fact, the compatible solutes often act as more general stress protectants as well as just osmoprotectants .

What is the salt concentration of halophiles?

Of particular note are the extreme halophiles or haloarchaea (often known as halobacteria), a group of archaea, which require at least a 2 M salt concentration and are usually found in saturated solutions (about 36% w/v salts). These are the primary inhabitants of salt lakes, inland seas, and evaporating ponds of seawater, such as the Dead Sea and solar salterns, where they tint the water column and sediments bright colors. In other words, they will most definitely perish if they are exposed to anything besides a very high, intense salt-conditioned environment. These prokaryotes require salt for growth. The high concentration of NaCl in their environment limits the availability of oxygen for respiration. Their cellular machinery is adapted to high salt concentrations by having charged amino acids on their surfaces, allowing the retention of water molecules around these components. They are heterotrophs that normally respire by aerobic means. Most halophiles are unable to survive outside their high-salt native environment. Indeed, many cells are so fragile that when placed in distilled water they immediately lyse from the change in osmotic conditions.

What is a halophile?

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.

Why do halophiles expend energy?

Most halophilic and all halotolerant organisms expend energy to exclude salt from their cytoplasm to avoid protein aggregation (' salting out '). To survive the high salinities, halophiles employ two differing strategies to prevent desiccation through osmotic movement of water out of their cytoplasm.

What are the molecular signatures of halophiles?

At the protein level, the halophilic species are characterized by low hydrophobicity, an overrepresentation of acidic residues, underrepresentation of Cys, lower propensities for helix formation, and higher propensities for coil structure. The core of these proteins is less hydrophobic, such as DHFR, that was found to have narrower β-strands. At the DNA level, the halophiles exhibit distinct dinucleotide and codon usage.

How do halophilic bacteria work?

Both strategies work by increasing the internal osmolarity of the cell. The first strategy is employed by the majority of halophilic bacteria, some archaea, yeasts, algae, and fungi; the organism accumulates organic compounds in the cytoplasm— osmoprotectants which are known as compatible solutes.

What alga can proliferate in saltern ponds?

At times, the alga Dunaliella salina can also proliferate in this environment. A comparatively wide range of taxa has been isolated from saltern crystalliser ponds, including members of these genera: Haloferax, Halogeometricum, Halococcus, Haloterrigena, Halorubrum, Haloarcula, and Halobacterium.

What is the salt content of halophiles?

Slight halophiles prefer 0.3 to 0.8 M (1.7 to 4.8%—seawater is 0.6 M or 3.5%), moderate halophiles 0.8 to 3.4 M (4.7 to 20%), and extreme halophiles 3.4 to 5.1 M (20 to 30%) salt content. Halophiles require sodium chloride (salt) for growth, in contrast to halotolerant organisms, which do not require salt but can grow under saline conditions.

What is the color of halophiles?

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 Dead Sea, and in evaporation ponds.

Halophiles Definition

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Where Do Halophiles Live?

Classifying Halophiles

Examples of Halophiles