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Adaptation of Halophilic Archaea to Life at High Salt Concentrations

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Book cover Salinity: Environment - Plants - Molecules

Abstract

The halophilic Archaea (order Halobacteriales) form a diverse group of microorganisms adapted to life at high salt concentrations. The cells contain molar concentrations of K+ and Cl− to provide osmotic balance. Enzymes and other proteins require the presence of high salt concentrations for activity and structural stability. Most proteins contain a large excess of acidic amino acids and low amounts of hydrophobic amino acids. The structure resolution of a number of such enzymes by X-ray crystallography and the use of site-directed mutagenesis in recent years has greatly increased our understanding of the adaptation of the Halo-bacteriales to life at high salt concentrations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Microbial and Molecular Ecology, Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel

    Aharon Oren

  2. Moshe Shilo Minerva Center for Marine Biogeochemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel

    Aharon Oren

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  1. Aharon Oren
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  1. University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    André Läuchli

  2. Darmstadt University of Technology, Darmstadt, Germany

    Ulrich Lüttge

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© 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Oren, A. (2002). Adaptation of Halophilic Archaea to Life at High Salt Concentrations. In: Läuchli, A., Lüttge, U. (eds) Salinity: Environment - Plants - Molecules. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48155-3_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48155-3_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-0492-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-306-48155-0

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