Extremophilic adaptations and biotechnological applications in diverse environments

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.