Extremophilic adaptations and biotechnological applications in diverse environments

James Charlesworth; Brendan P. Burns; James Charlesworth; Brendan P. Burns

doi:10.3934/microbiol.2016.3.251

AIMS Microbiology

2016, Volume 2, Issue 3: 251-261. doi: 10.3934/microbiol.2016.3.251

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Extremophilic adaptations and biotechnological applications in diverse environments

James Charlesworth ^1,2,
Brendan P. Burns ^{1,2
,
,}

1.
School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
2.
Australian Centre for Astrobiology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia

Received: 11 May 2016 Accepted: 28 July 2016 Published: 29 July 2016

Extremophiles are organisms that tolerate and thrive in the most extreme and challenging conditions to life. As a result of these extreme environmental insults extremophiles have developed a number of interesting adaptations to cellular membranes, proteins and extracellular metabolites. These uniquely adapted biological molecules and systems already have roles in a number of biotechnological fields. In this review we give a brief overview of a number of different extreme environments and the potential for biotechnological innovation from the microbes which inhabit them.
- extremophiles,
- applications
Citation: James Charlesworth, Brendan P. Burns. Extremophilic adaptations and biotechnological applications in diverse environments[J]. AIMS Microbiology, 2016, 2(3): 251-261. doi: 10.3934/microbiol.2016.3.251

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Abstract

Extremophiles are organisms that tolerate and thrive in the most extreme and challenging conditions to life. As a result of these extreme environmental insults extremophiles have developed a number of interesting adaptations to cellular membranes, proteins and extracellular metabolites. These uniquely adapted biological molecules and systems already have roles in a number of biotechnological fields. In this review we give a brief overview of a number of different extreme environments and the potential for biotechnological innovation from the microbes which inhabit them.

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