Psychrophiles: From Biodiversity to Biotechnology

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

   PDF

2. Boundary Conditions for Microbial Life at Low Temperatures

   1. The Climate of Snow and Ice as Boundary Condition for Microbial Life

      • Michael Kuhn

      Pages 3-15

   2. Limits for Microbial Life at Subzero Temperatures

      • Corien Bakermans

      Pages 17-28

3. Microbial Diversity in Cold Ecosystems

   1. Bacteria in Snow and Glacier Ice

      • Vanya Miteva

      Pages 31-50

   2. Bacteria in Subglacial Environments

      • Brent C. Christner, Mark L. Skidmore, John C. Priscu, Martyn Tranter, Christine M. Foreman

      Pages 51-71

   3. Bacteria in the Deep Sea: Psychropiezophiles

      • Yuichi Nogi

      Pages 73-82

   4. Bacteria in Permafrost

      • David Gilichinsky, Tatiana Vishnivetskaya, Mayya Petrova, Elena Spirina, Vladimir Mamykin, Elizaveta Rivkina

      Pages 83-102

   5. Anaerobic Bacteria and Archaea in Cold Ecosystems

      • Kai Finster

      Pages 103-119

   6. Cyanobacteria in Cold Ecosystems

      • Frédéric Zakhia, Anne-Dorothee Jungblut, Arnaud Taton, Warwick F. Vincent, Annick Wilmotte

      Pages 121-135

   7. Fungi in Cold Ecosystems

      • Jens C. Frisvad

      Pages 137-156

   8. Cold-Active Viruses

      • Llyd E. Wells

      Pages 157-173

4. Molecular Adaptations to Cold Habitats

   1. Membrane Components and Cold Sensing

      • Nicholas J. Russell

      Pages 177-190

   2. Cold-Shock Proteins

      • Sangita Phadtare, Masayori Inouye

      Pages 191-209

   3. Fundamentals of Cold-Adapted Enzymes

      • Tony Collins, Frédéric Roulling, Florence Piette, Jean-Claude Marx, Georges Feller, Charles Gerday et al.

      Pages 211-227

   4. Cryoprotectants and Ice-Binding Proteins

      • Hidehisa Kawahara

      Pages 229-246

   5. The Role of Exopolymers in Microbial Adaptation to Sea Ice

      • Christopher Krembs, Jody W. Deming

      Pages 247-264

   6. Genomic Analysis of Psychrophilic Prokaryotes

      • John P. Bowman

      Pages 265-284

   7. Microalgae in Polar Regions: Linking Functional Genomics and Physiology with Environmental Conditions

      • Thomas Mock, David N. Thomas

      Pages 285-312

   8. Metagenomics: Microbial Community Genomes Revealed

      • Sara Sjöling, Don A. Cowan

      Pages 313-332

   9. Proteomic Studies of Psychrophilic Microorganisms

      • Tatsuo Kurihara, Nobuyoshi Esaki

      Pages 333-344

Most scientists in the middle of the twentieth century would probably not have believed that life was possible at extreme values of environmental factors, such as pH values close to 0 (e. g. sulfurous environments) or to 14 (e. g. soda lakes), sali- ties of 6 M NaCl (e. g. Dead Sea), hydrostatic pressures approaching 0. 1 MPa (deep sea) and temperatures exceeding 100°C (thermal vents or hot springs) or as low as –20°C (e. g. polar regions). Of the current studies on extremophiles, approximately 30,000 articles by the year 2007, almost two-thirds have been performed on org- isms adapted to outstanding temperatures, but much more attention has been paid to thermophiles than to psychrophiles. However, over the past 10 years, scientific publications on cold-adapted microorganisms have increased by a factor of ten. If one considers the extent of cold habitats, psychrophiles, i. e. cold-loving organisms, should largely lead in this comparison with thermophiles because a great proportion of the Earth’s biosphere never reaches temperatures above 5°C. Nearly three-quarters of the Earth is covered by oceans whose deep water masses, irrespective of latitude, are constantly between 2 and 4°C. The large continent of Antarctica also provides a permanently cold terrestrial environment as well as an aquatic niche in the surrounding ice that melts during the summer. Other examples of cold habitats are permafrost soils, high alpine soils, cold deserts, cold caves, marine sediments, snow, glacier and sea ice.

• biodiversity
• biosphere
• ecosystem
• ecosystems
• environment
• microorganism
• microorganisms

From the reviews:

"The new book Psychrophiles – from Biodiversity to Biotechnology … focusses on psychrophiles and describes, with cutting-edge knowledge, representative groups of cold-adapted micro-organisms as well as the habitats in which they live and the strategies they employ to cope with the cold. … This excellent book, which covers almost all fields of ‘cold’ microbiological research, matches current demands and trends in applied biotechnology. Furthermore, it is a valuable source of information to all those scientists interested in knowing what’s going on in the lab’s -80ºC freezer." (Ralph Schill, Lab Times, Issue 4, 2008)

• Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

  Rosa Margesin, Franz Schinner

• Laboratory of Biochemistry, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium

  Jean-Claude Marx, Charles Gerday

Policies and ethics