Psychrophilic microorganisms in alpine soils

Abstract

The Earth is a cold planet. About 85% of the biosphere is exposed to temperatures below 5°C throughout the year. Cold habitats span from the Arctic to the Antarctic, from high mountain range environments to the deep ocean. The major fraction of this low-temperature environment is represented by the deep sea (nearly 75% of the Earth is covered by oceans and 90% of the ocean volume is below 5°C), followed by snow (35% of land surface), permafrost (24% of land surface), sea ice (13% of the Earth's surface) and glaciers (10% of land surface). Psychrophilic microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, yeasts, filamentous fungi and algae, have successfully colonized these cold environments, because they evolved special mechanisms to overcome the life-endangering influence of low temperature. This chapter describes mechanisms of microbial cold adaptation and aspects of microbial activity and biodiversity in cold alpine soils.