ABSTRACT
The adaptability of extremophiles to remarkable ranges of temperature, salinity, pressure, radiation, and other physical and chemical factors has offered exciting opportunities to study unique genomic processes. To survive under conditions that limit most life-forms and to respond rapidly to environmental fluxes, extremophiles have evolved unique and novel genetic structures and regulatory mechanisms. Indeed, large-scale efforts to understand the genomic correlates of extremophile biology are underway across the globe, with some fascinating findings.
Genomic studies of extremophiles from widely divergent physical and chemical environments may offer insights into key physiological processes:
Novel proteins and compounds related to protection against environmental stressors
Enzymes related to biochemical processes
Novel gene structures or arrangements
Genes acquired through horizontal transfer
Novel regulatory machinery for transcription and translation
Metabolomics
New strategies for genome editing
In this chapter, five extremophiles that have been described in the literature are highlighted, to illustrate important themes related to the genetics of these organisms and their potential for biotechnology. The genetic basis for environmental adaptation and attendant applications to industrial processes are reviewed.
