Life in Extreme Environments

Guido di Prisco was Professor of Biochemistry and CNR (National Research Council) Research Associate, Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources, Naples, Italy. He was the CNR Research Director up until his retirement in 2004. He took part in numerous expeditions in both the Antarctic and Arctic. On September 29 2019, Guido passed away after a serious illness. Howell Edwards is Emeritus Professor of Molecular Spectroscopy, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Bradford. He is a member of the International Science Team on the RLS Raman instrument for the ExoMars 2020 mission. He has published over 1300 papers on Raman spectroscopy and its applications. Josef Elster is Professor in the Centre for Polar Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, and senior scientist, Phycology Centre, Institute of Botany, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic, Třeboň, Czech Republic. His expertise is in the field and laboratory study of polar cyanobacteria and microalgae. He has led or been a member of many polar research expeditions and was founder of the Czech Arctic Research Infrastructure 'Josef Svoboda Station', Svalbard. Ad H. L. Huiskes is a guest scientist at the Netherlands Institute of Sea Research (NIOZ), Yerseke, Netherlands. He led the Unit of Polar Ecology at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Yerseke, was acting Director of the Centre of Estuarine and Marine Ecology (now a division of NIOZ), and subsequently acting Director of the Yerseke branch of NIOZ. In addition, he was Vice President of the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR, 2008–2012) and Lecturer of Polar Ecology at the University of Groningen.

• Life in extreme environments: insights in biological capability; Introduction Guido di Prisco, Ad Huiskes, Josef Elster and Howell Edwards; Part I. Extreme Environments: Responses and Adaptation to Change: 1. Physiological traits of the Greenland shark somniosus microcephalus obtained during the TUNU-expeditions to northeast Greenland Guido di Prisco, Nicoletta Ademollo, Stefania Ancora, Jørgen S. Christiansen, Daniela Coppola, Simonetta Corsolini, Sara Ferrando, Laura Ghigliotti, Daniela Giordano, Arve Lynghammar, Julius Nielsen, Eva Pisano, Roberta Russo, John F. Steffensen and Cinzia Verde; 2. Metazoan adaptation to deep-sea hydrothermal vents Stéphane Hourdez and Didier Jollivet; 3. Extremophiles populating a high level natural radiation area (HLNRA) in northern Iran Fatemeh Heidari, Hossein Riahi and Zeinab Shariatmadari; Part II. Biodiversity, Bioenergetic Processes, and Biotic and Abiotic Interactions: 4. Metazoan life in anoxic marine sediments Roberto Danovaro, Cinzia Corinaldesi, Antonio Dell'Anno, Cristina Gambi, Antonio Pusceddu and Michael Tangherlini; 5. How to survive winter? Adaptation and acclimation strategies of eukaryotic algae in polar terrestrial ecosystems Martina Pichrtová, Eva Hejduková, Linda Nedbalová and Josef Elster; 6. Viral infections of vertebrates including humans in the polar areas Jiří Černý, Jana Elsterová, Daniel Růžek and Libor Grubhoffer; Part III. Life in Extreme Environments and the Responses to Change: The Example of Polar Environments: 7. Life in the extreme environments of our planet under pressure: climate-induced threats and exploitation opportunities Melody S. Clark, Cinzia Verde, Silvia Fineschi, Francesco Loreto, Lloyd S. Peck and Guido di Prisco; 8. The ecophysiology of responding to change in polar marine benthos Lloyd S. Peck; 9. The Southern Ocean: an extreme environment or just home of unique ecosystems? Julian Gutt and Gerhard Dieckmann; 10. Microorganisms in cryoturbated organic matter of arctic permafrost soils Jiří Bárta; 11. Chemical ecology in the Southern Ocean Carlos Angulo-Preckler, Paula de Castro-Fernandez, Rafael Martín-Martín, Blanca Figuerola and Conxita Avila; 12. Metabolic and taxonomic diversity in Antarctic subglacial environments Trista J. Vick-Majors, Amanda M. Achberger, Alexander B. Michaud and John C. Priscu; Part IV. Life and Habitability: Introduction: 13. Analytical astrobiology: the search for life signatures and the remote detection of biomarkers through their Raman spectral interrogation Howell G. M. Edwards and Jan Jehlicka; 14. Adaptation/acclimatization mechanisms of oxyphototrophic microorganisms and their relevance to astrobiology Jana Kviderova; 15. Life at the extremes Steven Chown.

'… the volume establishes a baseline for this new field of study in which the relevant environments have only recently become accessible but face significant threats from climate change and human actions.' L. S. Zipp, Choice