Extremophiles and their application to veterinary medicine

Abstract

Extremophiles are organisms that can grow and thrive in harsh conditions, e.g., extremes of temperature, pH, salinity, radiation, pressure and oxygen tension. Thermophilic, halophilic and radiation-resistant organisms are all microbes, some of which are able to withstand multiple extremes. Psychrophiles, or cold-loving organisms, include not only microbes, but fish that live in polar waters and animals that can withstand freezing. Extremophiles are structurally adapted at a molecular level to withstand these conditions. Thermophiles have particularly stable proteins and cell membranes, psychrophiles have flexible cellular proteins and membranes and/or antifreeze proteins, salt-resistant halophiles contain compatible solutes or high concentrations of inorganic ions, and acidophiles and alkaliphiles are able to pump ions to keep their internal pH close to neutrality. Their interest to veterinary medicine resides in their capacity to be pathogenic, and as sources of enzymes and other molecules for diagnostic and pharmaceutical purposes. In particular, thermostable DNA polymerases are a mainstay of PCR-based diagnostics.