DUGi

Adaptacions estructurals i funcionals de microorganismes adaptats a ambients endorreics hipersalins

http://dugi.udg.edu/item/http:@@@@hdl.handle.net@@10256@@24336

In the microbial world, one of the most interesting fields to study is extremophilic microorganisms. These microorganisms live in very particular conditions that are hostile to the majority of microorganisms, but extremophiles are adapted to these conditions and develop stable and active communities. These extreme environments can be of many types, including extreme variations in pH and temperature, high pressures at the ocean floor, or high salinity in endorheic environments. The latter is the case presented in this work. The objective is to carry out a literature review within the current scientific literature on the adaptations and modifications of microorganisms found in hypersaline endorheic environments, which are bodies of water in landlocked basins with very high salt concentrations. These hypersaline endorheic environments provide a very interesting, unique, dynamic, and nuanced ecosystem where entire communities from the three domains of life, namely Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya, thrive. This work presents information about the adaptations and modifications exhibited by halophilic microorganisms (which require a certain amount of salts in their environment to survive) and halotolerant microorganisms (which do not require salts in their environment but can tolerate their presence). The aim is to provide a comprehensive understanding of how microorganisms are capable of surviving and proliferating in such extreme environments. This work encompasses interdisciplinary aspects from different fields of science, such as biology, microbiology, and, particularly, with a stronger emphasis in this study, biotechnology. Adaptations to saline environments are highly diverse, ranging from strategies based on osmotic balance between solutes in the environment and intracellular solutes to prevent cell dehydration, to structural modifications at the membrane and proteome levels. Within the modifications and adaptations to hypersaline environments, there are the production of highly interesting biomolecules for the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries, offering unique opportunities to explore and delve into the commercial potential of these microorganisms. Additionally, this work will allow us to visualize how these environments are affected by current climate emergency conditions, which must be reversed as they can lead us to irreversible and dire situations

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