The microbial community inhabiting Sfax solar salterns on the east coast of Tunisia has been studied by means of different molecular and culture-dependent tools that have unveiled the presence of novel microbial groups as well as a community structure different from that of other coastal hypersaline environments. We have focused on the study of the viral assemblages of these salterns and their ...

Halophilic archaea, also referred to as haloarchaea, dominate hypersaline environments. To survive under such extreme conditions, haloarchaea and their enzymes have evolved to function optimally in environments with high salt concentrations and, sometimes, with extreme pH and temperatures. These features make haloarchaea attractive sources of a wide variety of biotechnological products, such as...

The immune response represents a suite of evolved traits that can involve energetic and evolutionary trade-offs with other energy-demanding fitness-related processes. Here, we tested the hypothesis aquatic beetles living in inland hypersaline habitats have lower capacity than freshwater congeners. Phenoloxidase activity, encapsulation antimicrobial peptide activity were compared freshwater/hype...

Halophilic archaea push the limits of life at several extremes. In particular, they are noted for their biochemical strategies in dealing with osmotic stress, low water activity and cycles of desiccation in their hypersaline environments. Another feature common to their habitats is intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which is a challenge that microorganisms must overcome. The consequences of hi...

Hypersaline environments are considered one of the most extreme habitats on earth and microorganisms have developed diverse molecular mechanisms of adaptation to withstand these conditions. The present study was aimed at identifying novel genes from the microbial communities of a moderate-salinity rhizosphere and brine from the Es Trenc saltern (Mallorca, Spain), which could confer increased sa...

Melanized yeast-like meristematic fungi are characteristic inhabitants of highly stressed environments and are rare eukaryotic extremophiles. Therefore, they are attractive organisms for studies of adaptations. In this study we compared two meristematic species of the genus Trimmatostroma on media of differing water potentials isolated from distinct water-stressed environments: T. salinum from ...

Heavy metal pollution represents an important environmental problem due to the toxic effects of metals. Their accumulation throughout the food chain leads to serious ecological and health problems. The remediation of environments metal contaminated through physico-chemical methods present major disadvantages such as high energy consumption, high costs and incomplete removal of metal ions. Bioso...

Halophilic bacteria are a group of microorganisms living in saline environments and some cases need the salinity to survive. Furthermore,these species have potential for interesting promising applications. In fact, this is due not only their ability adapt extreme physico-chemical conditions but also because many them they produce substances industry such as extracellular hydrolytic enzymes.The ...

Microbialites are widespread in modern and fossil hypersaline environments, where they provide a unique sedimentary archive. Authigenic mineral precipitation in modern microbialites results from a complex interplay between microbial metabolisms, organic matrices and environmental parameters. Here, we combined mineralogical and microscopic analyses with measurements of metabolic activity in orde...