A brief overview of Extremophiles and their application

Abstract

Extremophiles are known to endure under harsh and extreme environments in which a typical organism would die. This ability comes by adaptation mechanism due to altered gene expression which in turn maintains the homeostasis in the changing harsh environmental conditions. The adaptation mechanisms include pathway-specific gene activation, protein modulation, extremozyme action, amino acid accumulation, ion channel/pump formation, chaperone activation, extremolyte synthesis, cellular compartmentalization, etc. For many years, extremophile micro-organisms are a core of attention in the scientific community due to their immense ability to live and survive in a complex environment. Examining the survival and defensive mechanism of extremophiles as to genomic to metabolite levels will aid in discovery of essential genes, novel molecules, and metabolic networks, etc. Notwithstanding recent progress, practical application of extremophile micro-organisms in the biotechnological, industrial and medical fields is still in its infancy stage. The jillions of hidden beneficial extremophile micro-organisms need more investigation and proper understanding of underlying defensive mechanisms and biomolecule properties. Following table summarizes the types of extremophile microbes, their living condition, examples and application.