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Tolerance of thermophilic and hyperthermophilic microorganisms to desiccation

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Abstract

We examined short- and long-term desiccation tolerance of 31 strains of thermophilic and hyperthermophilic Archaea and thermophilic phylogenetically deep-branching Bacteria. Seventeen organisms showed a significant high ability to withstand desiccation. The desiccation tolerance turned out to be species-specific and was influenced by several parameters such as storage temperature, pH, substrate or presence of oxygen. All organisms showed a higher survival rate at low storage temperatures (−20°C or below) than at room temperature. Anaerobic and microaerophilic strains are influenced negatively in their survival by the presence of oxygen during desiccation and storage. The desiccation tolerance of Sulfolobales strains is co-influenced by the pH and the substrate of the pre-culture. The distribution of desiccation tolerance in the phylogenetic tree of life is not domain specific. Surprisingly, there are dramatic differences in desiccation tolerance among organisms from the same order and even from closely related strains of the same genus. Our results show that tolerance of vegetative cells to desiccation is a common phenomenon of thermophilic and hyperthermophilic microorganisms although they originated from quite different non-arid habitats like boiling acidic springs or black smoker chimneys.

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Acknowledgments

We want to thank Kerstin Roth for performing desiccation experiments with Metallosphaera sedula and Dr. Guenther Reitz, Head of Radiation Biology Department at German Aerospace Center (DLR), for ongoing support.

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  1. Radiation Biology Division, German Aerospace Center (DLR e.V.), Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Linder Hoehe, 51147, Cologne, Germany

    Kristina Beblo, Elke Rabbow & Petra Rettberg

  2. Faculty of Natural Sciences III, Institute for Microbiology and Archaea Center, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    Kristina Beblo & Harald Huber

  3. Faculty of Natural Sciences III, Center for Electron Microscopy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    Reinhard Rachel

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  1. Kristina Beblo
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  2. Elke Rabbow
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Correspondence to Kristina Beblo.

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Communicated by L. Huang.

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Beblo, K., Rabbow, E., Rachel, R. et al. Tolerance of thermophilic and hyperthermophilic microorganisms to desiccation. Extremophiles 13, 521–531 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-009-0239-1

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