Halophiles are excellent sources of enzymes that are not only salt stable but also can withstand and carry out reactions efficiently under extreme conditions. The aim of the study was to isolate and study the diversity among halophilic bacteria producing enzymes of industrial value. Screening of halophiles from various saline habitats of India led to isolation of 108 halophilic bacteria produci...

A new potent halophilic protease producer, Halobacterium sp. strain LBU50301 was isolated from salt-fermented fish samples (budu) and identified by phenotypic analysis, and 16S rDNA gene sequencing. Thereafter, sequential statistical strategy was used to optimize halophilic protease production from Halobacterium sp. strain LBU50301 by shake-flask fermentation. The classical one-factor-at-a-time...

Aspartate aminotransferase from the archaebacterium Haloferax mediterranei was purified and found to be homogeneous. An average Mr of 66,000 was estimated. The native halophilic transaminase exhibited no maximum absorption at 410 nm, which indicates that the apo form is obtained by our purification procedure, and the molar absorption coefficient at 275 nm in 3.5 M-KCl (pH 7.8) was found to be 7...

All tested strains of halophilic archaebacteria of the genera Halobacterium, Haloarcula, Haloferax, and Natronobacterium lysed in 1% Bacto-Peptone (Difco) containing 25% NaCl, whereas no lysis was observed with other strains belonging to archaebacteria of the genera Halococcus, Natronococcus, and Sulfolobus, methanogenic bacteria, and moderately halophilic eubacteria. Substances in Bacto-Pepton...

The objective of this study was to isolate halophilic bacteria with the ability to produce intracellular or extracellular L-asparaginase. A total number of 120 halophilic bacteria were isolated from 17 different saline habitats of Iran including salt lakes, wetlands, brine springs and deserts. Among these, 68 were able to grow in the presence of 1.5 M NaCl and 52 demonstrated the ability to gro...

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) was purified to homogeneity from the moderately halophilic bacterium Vibrio costicola. The enzyme is monomeric, with an Mr of 62,000, as determined by the Svedberg equation, by using values of s0(20,w) 4.4 x 10(-13) s, D20,w 6.13 x 10(-7) cm2.s-1 and v 0.719 cm3.g-1. Compared with other, non-halophilic, PEPCKs, the enzyme from V. costicola had a signifi...

Prof. Hans Georg Trüper, one of the most important scientists in the field of halophile research, passed away on 9 March 2016 at the age of 79. I here present a brief obituary with special emphasis on Prof. Trüper's contributions to our understanding of the halophilic prokaryotes and their adaptations to life in hypersaline environments. He has pioneered the study of the halophilic anoxygenic p...

Around the world, there are numerous alkaline, hypersaline environments that are heated either geothermally or through intense solar radiation. It was once thought that such harsh environments were inhospitable and incapable of supporting a variety of life. However, numerous culture-dependent and -independent studies revealed the presence of an extensive diversity of aerobic and anaerobic bacte...