Extremophile

Thermophiles, a type of extremophile, produce some of the bright colors of Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park

An extremophile (from Latin extremus meaning "extreme" and Greek is an organism that thrives in physically or geochemically extreme conditions that are detrimental to most life on Earth. In contrast, organisms that live in more moderate environments may be termed mesophiles or neutrophiles. In the 1980s and 1990s, biologists found that microbial life has an amazing flexibility for surviving in extreme environments niches that are extraordinarily hot, or acidic, for example that would be completely inhospitable to complex organisms. Some scientists even concluded that life may have begun on Earth in hydrothermal vents far under the ocean's surface. According to astrophysicist Dr. Steinn Sigurdsson, "There are viable bacterial spores that have been found that are 40 million years old on Earth

Astrobiology
Astrobiology is the field concerned with forming theories, such as panspermia, about the distribution, nature, and future of life in the universe. In it, microbial ecologists, astronomers, planetary scientists, geochemists, philosophers, and explorers cooperate constructively to guide the search for life on other planets. Astrobiologists are particularly interested in studying extremophiles, as many organisms of this type are capable of surviving in environments similar to those known to exist on other planets. For example, Mars may have regions in its deep subsurface permafrost that could harbor endolith communities.[citation
needed]

The

subsurface water ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa may harbor life, especially at hypothesized hydrothermal vents at the ocean floor. Recent research carried out on extremophiles in Japan involved a variety of bacteria including Escherichia colireme gravity. The bacteria were cultivated while being rotated in an ultracentrifuge at high speeds corresponding to 403,627 times "g" (the normal acceleration due to gravity). Paracoccus denitrificans was one of the bacteria which displayed not only survival but also robust cellular growth under these conditions of hyperacceleration which are usually found only in cosmic environments, such as on very massive stars or in the shock waves of supernovas. Analysis showed that the small size of prokaryotic cells is essential for successful growth under hypergravity. The research has implications on the feasibility ofpanspermia. rophilic Grylloblattidae (insects), Antarctic krill (a crustacean) and Tardigrades

DNA transfer
Over 65 prokaryotic species are known to be naturally competent for genetic transformation, the ability to transfer DNA from one cell to another cell followed by integration of the donor DNA into the recipient cell s chromosome.Several extremophiles are able to carry out species-specific DNA transfer, as described below. However, it is not yet clear how common such a capability is among extremophiles. The bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans is one of the most radioresistant organisms known. This bacterium can also survive cold, dehydration, vacuum and acid and is thus known as a polyextremophile (see Deinococcus radiodurans). D. radiodurans is competent to perform genetic transformation, and see Transformation (genetics). Recipient cells are able to repair DNA damage in donor transforming DNA that had been UV irradiated as efficiently as they repair cellular DNA when the cells themselves are irradiated. The extreme thermophilic bacterium Thermus thermophilus and other related Thermus species are also capable of genetic transformation. Halobacterium volcanii, an extreme halophilic archaeon, is capable of natural genetic transformation. Cytoplasmic bridges are formed between cells that appear to be used for DNA transfer from one cell to another in either direction. Sulfolobus solfataricus and Sulfolobus acidocaldarius are hyperthermophilic archaea. Exposure of these organisms to the DNA damaging agents UV irradiation, bleomycin or mitomycin C induces species-specific cellular aggregation. UVinduced cellular aggregation of S. acidocaldarius mediates chromosomal marker exchange with high frequency. Recombination rates exceed those of uninduced cultures by up to three orders of magnitude.

References
Rampelotto, P. H. (2010). Resistance of microorganisms to extreme environmental conditions and its contribution to Astrobiology. Sustainability, 2, 1602-1623. Rothschild, L.J.; Mancinelli, R.L. Life in extreme environments. Nature 2001, 409, 1092-1101 "Mars Exploration - Press kit" (PDF). NASA. June 2003. Retrieved 14 July

2009. BBC Staff (23 August 2011). "Impacts 'more likely' to have spread life from Earth". BBC. Retrieved 24 August 2011. Gorman, James (6 February 2013). "Bacteria Found Deep Under Antarctic Ice, Scientists Say". New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
b c

Choi, Charles Q. (17 March 2013). "Microbes Thrive in Deepest Spot on

Earth". LiveScience. Retrieved 17 March 2013. Glud, Ronnie; Wenzhfer, Frank; Middleboe, Mathias; Oguri, Kazumasa; Turnewitsch, Robert; Canfield, Donald E.; Kitazato, Hiroshi (17 March 2013). "High rates of microbial carbon turnover in sediments in the deepest oceanic trench on Earth". Nature Geoscience.Bibcode:2013NatGe...6..284G.

doi:10.1038/ngeo1773. Retrieved 17 March 2013. Oskin, Becky (14 March 2013). "Intraterrestrials: Life Thrives in Ocean Floor". LiveScience. Retrieved 17 March 2013. Thermococcus barophilus sp. nov., a new barophilic and hyperthermophilic

archaeon isolated under high hydrostatic pressure from a deep-sea hydrothermal

vent. IJSEM, p. 351-359, 49, 1999. Cavicchioli, R. & Thomas, T. 2000. Extremophiles. In: J. Lederberg. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Microbiology, Second Edition, Vol. 2, pp. 317337. Academic Press, San Diego.

Types[edit] There are many classes of extremophiles that range all around the globe, each corresponding to the way its environmental niche differs from mesophilic conditions. These classifications are not exclusive. Many extremophiles fall under multiple categories and termed aspolyextremophiles. For example, organisms living inside hot rocks deep under Earth's surface are thermophilic and barophilic such asThermococcus barophilus.[9] A polyextremophile living at the summit of a mountain in the Atacama Desert might be a radioresistantxerophile, a psychrophile, and an oligotroph. Polyextremophiles are well known for their ability to tolerate both high and low pH levels. Acidophile

An organism with optimal growth at pH levels of 3 or below Alkaliphile An organism with optimal growth at pH levels of 9 or above Anaerobe An organism that does not require oxygen for growth such as Spinoloricus Cinzia. Two sub-types exist: facultative anaerobe andobligate anaerobe. Facultative anaerobe can tolerate anaerobic and aerobic condition; however, an obligate anaerobe would die in presence of even trace levels of oxygen. Cryptoendolith An organism that lives in microscopic spaces within rocks, such as pores between aggregate grains; these may also be calledEndolith, a term that also includes organisms populating fissures, aquifers, and faults filled with groundwater in the deep subsurface. Halophile An organism requiring at least 0.2M concentrations of salt (NaCl) for growth[10] Hyperthermophile An organism that can thrive at temperatures between 80122 C, such as those found in hydrothermal systems Hypolith An organism that lives underneath rocks in cold deserts Lithoautotroph An organism (usually bacteria) whose sole source of carbon is carbon dioxide and exergonic inorganic oxidation (chemolithotrophs) such as Nitrosomonas europaea; these organisms are capable of deriving energy from reduced mineral compounds like pyrites, and are active in geochemical cycling and the weathering of parent bedrock to form soil

Metallotolerant capable of tolerating high levels of dissolved heavy metals in solution, such as copper, cadmium, arsenic, and zinc; examples include Ferroplasma sp., Cupriavidus metallidurans and GFAJ-1.[11][12][13] Oligotroph An organism capable of growth in nutritionally limited environments Osmophile An organism capable of growth in environments with a high sugar concentration Piezophile An organism that lives optimally at high hydrostatic pressure; common in the deep terrestrial subsurface, as well as in oceanic trenches Polyextremophile A polyextremophile (faux Ancient Latin/Greek for 'affection for many extremes') is an organism that qualifies as an extremophile under more than one category. Psychrophile/Cryophile An organism capable of survival, growth or reproduction at temperatures of -15 C or lower for extended periods; common in cold soils, permafrost, polar ice, cold ocean water, and in or under alpine snowpack Radioresistant Organisms resistant to high levels of ionizing radiation, most commonly ultraviolet radiation, but also including organisms capable of resisting nuclear radiation Thermophile An organism that can thrive at temperatures between 45122 C

Thermoacidophile Combination of thermophile and acidophile that prefer temperatures of 7080 C and pH between 2 and 3 Xerophile An organism that can grow in extremely dry, desiccating conditions; this type is exemplified by the soil microbes of the Atacama Desert