Halolamina pelagica strain CDK2, a halophilic archaeon (growth range 1.36 to 5.12 M NaCl), was isolated from rhizosphere of wild grasses of hypersaline soil of the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India. Its draft genome contains 2,972,542 bp and 3,485 coding sequences, depicting genes for halophilic serine proteases and trehalose synthesis.

Halorhodospira halochloris is an extremely halophilic bacterium isolated from hypersaline Wadi Nantrun lakes in Egypt. Here we report the draft genome sequence of this gammaproteobacteria (GI number: 589289709, GenBank Accession number: CP007268). The 3.5-Mb genome encodes for photosynthesis and biosynthesis of organic osmoprotectants. Comparison with the genome of H.halophila promises to yield...

BACKGROUND This study investigates the relationship between salinity and biotic communities (primary producers and macroinvertebrates) in Rambla Salada, a Mediterranean hypersaline stream in SE Spain. Since the 1980's, the mean salinity of the stream has fallen from about 100 g L(-1) to 35.5 g L(-1), due to intensive irrigated agriculture in the watershed. Furthermore, large dilutions occur occ...

BACKGROUND The St. Lucia Estuary, Africa's largest estuarine lake, is currently experiencing unprecedented freshwater deprivation which has resulted in a northward gradient of drought effects, with hypersaline conditions in its northern lakes. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS This study documents the changes that occurred in the biotic communities at False Bay from May 2010 to June 2011, in ord...

The genomes of three novel Frackibacter strains (WG11, WG12, and WG13) were sequenced. These strains were isolated from hypersaline fluid collected from a hydraulically fractured natural gas well. These genomes provide information on the mechanisms necessary for growth in these environments and offer insight into interactions with other community members.

Since its discovery in 1998, representatives of the extremely halophilic bacterium Salinibacter ruber have been found in many hypersaline environments across the world, including coastal and solar salterns and solar lakes. Here, we review the available information about the distribution, abundance and diversity of this member of the Bacteroidetes.

BACKGROUND Extracellular dissolved DNA has been demonstrated to be present in many terrestrial and aquatic environments, actively secreted, or released by decaying cells. Free DNA has the genetic potential to be acquired by living competent cells by horizontal gene transfer mediated by natural transformation. The aim of this work is to study the persistence of extracellular DNA and its biologic...

Saline lakes are intriguing ecosystems harboring extremely productive microbial communities in spite of their extreme environmental conditions. We performed a comprehensive analysis of the genetic diversity (18S rRNA gene) of the planktonic microbial eukaryotes (nano- and picoeukaryotes) in six different inland saline lakes located in the Qaidam Basin. The novelty level are high, with about 11....

Hortaea werneckii, ascomycetous yeast from the order Capnodiales, shows an exceptional adaptability to osmotically stressful conditions. To investigate this unusual phenotype we obtained a draft genomic sequence of a H. werneckii strain isolated from hypersaline water of solar saltern. Two of its most striking characteristics that may be associated with a halotolerant lifestyle are the large ge...

Certain fish have the remarkable capability of euryhalinity, being able to withstand large variations in salinity for indefinite periods. Using the highly euryhaline species, silver sea bream (Sparus sarba), as an experimental model, some of the molecular processes involved during ion regulation (Na+-K+-ATPase), cytoprotection [heat shock protein (hsp) 70], and growth (somatotropic axis) were s...