Psychrophilic microorganisms: challenges for life

[en] The ability of psychrophiles to survive and proliferate at low temperatures implies that they have overcome key barriers inherent to permanently cold environments. These challenges include: reduced enzyme activity; decreased membrane fluidity; altered transport of nutrients and waste products; decreased rates of transcription, translation and cell division; protein cold- denaturation; inappropriate protein folding; and intracellular ice formation. Cold- adapted organisms have successfully evolved features, genotypic and/ or phenotypic, to surmount the negative effects of low temperatures and to enable growth in these extreme environments. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge of these adaptations as gained from extensive biochemical and biophysical studies and also from genomics and proteomics.

Disciplines :

Biochemistry, biophysics & molecular biology

Author, co-author :

D'Amico, Salvino ; Université de Liège - ULiège > GIGA-Research

Collins, T.

Marx, J. C.

Feller, Georges ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences de la vie > Labo de biochimie

Gerday, Charles ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Services généraux (Faculté des sciences) > Relations académiques et scientifiques (Sciences)

Language :

English

Title :

Psychrophilic microorganisms: challenges for life

Publication date :

April 2006

Journal title :

EMBO Reports

ISSN :

1469-221X

eISSN :

1469-3178

Publisher :

Nature Publishing Group, London, United Kingdom

Volume :

Issue :

Pages :

385-389

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Available on ORBi :

since 26 January 2010

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Scopus citations^®

646

Scopus citations^®
without self-citations

632

OpenCitations

594

OpenAlex citations

772

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