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Halophiles Exposed Concomitantly to Multiple Stressors: Adaptive Mechanisms of Halophilic Alkalithermophiles

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Halophiles and Hypersaline Environments

Abstract

The anaerobic halophilic alkalithermophiles are a novel group of “poly-extremophiles.” The recent isolation of novel anaerobic halophilic alkalithermophiles belonging to the genera Natranaerobius and Natronovirga (forming the order Natranaerobiales) has provided a platform for detailed biochemical and bioenergetic experiments, allowing a greater understanding of the novel adaptive mechanisms employed by the poly-extremophiles. This review highlights the adaptive mechanisms employed by the model anaerobic halophilic alkalithermophile, Natranaerobius thermophilus. N. thermophilus grows optimally at 3.3 M Na+, pH55°C 9.5 and 53°C. Biochemical and physiological analyses revealed that N. thermophilus combines two mechanisms for adaptation to high salinity. N. thermophilus also shows an unusual pattern of cytoplasm acidification, and utilizes a dual mechanism for cytoplasm acidification based on an unusually large number of cation/proton antiporters and cytoplasmic buffering, a feature not previously observed in other alkalithermophiles studied. Both Natranaerobius thermophilus and Natronovirga wadinatrunensis showed significant resistance to ultra-violet radiation.

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Acknowledgments

Several people contributed to the work described in this article. We would like to thank Dr. Jenny Blamey for assistance with UV resistance experiments, Dr. Tairo Oshima for performing polyamines analysis and Dr. Baisuo Zhao for providing data on compatible solute accumulation in N. thermophilus. Karen Bowers performed experiments on the desiccation and gamma radiation resistance of N. thermophilus. The presented research herein was supported by grants MCB-060224 from the National Science Foundation and AFOSR 033835–01 from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research to J Wiegel.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt

    Noha M. Mesbah

  2. Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Juergen Wiegel

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  1. Noha M. Mesbah
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  2. Juergen Wiegel
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Correspondence to Noha M. Mesbah .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Microbiology, University of Sevilla, Profesor García González 2, Sevilla, 41012, Spain

    Antonio Ventosa

  2. The Institute of Life Sciences, Department of Plant and Environmental Sc, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel

    Aharon Oren

  3. , Insitute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beichen West Road 1, Beijing, China, People's Republic

    Yanhe Ma

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Mesbah, N.M., Wiegel, J. (2011). Halophiles Exposed Concomitantly to Multiple Stressors: Adaptive Mechanisms of Halophilic Alkalithermophiles. In: Ventosa, A., Oren, A., Ma, Y. (eds) Halophiles and Hypersaline Environments. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20198-1_14

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