Halophilic Microorganisms

• Introductory Chapter: Half a Lifetime in Soda Lakes.- 1 Trophic Ecology of Solar Salterns.- 2 Microbial Molecular and Physiological Diversity in Hypersaline Environments.- 3 Red, Extremely Halophilic, but not Archaeal: The Physiology and Ecology of Salinibacter ruber, a Bacterium Isolated from Saltern Crystallizer Ponds.- 4 The Potential Use of Signature Bases from 16S rRNA Gene Sequences to Aid the Assignment of Microbial Strains to Genera of Halobacteria.- 5 From Intraterrestrials to Extraterrestrials — Viable Haloarchaea in Ancient Salt Deposits.- 6 Fungi in the Salterns.- 7 Physiological and Molecular Responses of Bacillus subtilis to Hypertonicity: Utilization of Evolutionarily Conserved Adaptation Strategies.- 8 Genetics of Osmoadaptation by Accumulation of Compatible Solutes in the Moderate Halophile Chromohalobacter salexigens: Its Potential in Agriculture Under Osmotic Stress Conditions.- 9 Osmoregulated Solute Transport in Halophilic Bacteria.- 10 Molecular and Functional Adaptations Underlying the Exceptional Salt Tolerance of the Alga Dunaliella salina.- 11 Multienzyme Complexes in the Archaea: Predictions from Genome Sequences.- 12 Nitrate Assimilation in Halophilic Archaea.- 13 The Archaeal Cardiolipins of the Extreme Halophiles.- 14 Understanding Archaeal Protein Translocation: Haloferax volcanii as a Model System.- 15 Gas Vesicle Genes in Halophilic Archaea and Bacteria.- 16 Extremely Halophilic Archaea: Insights into Their Response to Environmental Conditions.- 17 Genome Sequences of the Head-Tail Haloviruses HF1 and HF2.- 18 Reporter Gene Systems for Halophilic Microorganisms.- 19 Industrial Enzymes: Do Halophiles and Alkaliphiles Have a Role to Play?.- 20 Extracellular Hydrolytic Enzymes Produced by Moderately Halophilic Bacteria.- 21 ModeratelyHalophilic, Exopolysaccharide-Producing Bacteria.- 22 Biotransformation of Toxic Organic and Inorganic Contaminants by Halophilic Bacteria.- Epilogue: Cum Grano Salis — Salt in the History and Life of Mankind. An Overview with Emphasis on Europe.

From the reviews: "The origin of this book is an international meeting held on halophilic microorganisms, organized in Seville, Spain, in 2001. In 22 chapters contributed by more than 100 authors, each a specialist in his field, numerous facets of the biology of these extremophilic organisms ... are dealt with ... . this book is a must for every researcher motivated by studies on these halophilic organisms." (Klaus Hausmann, European Journal of Protistology, Vol. 41 (1), 2005)