The extreme osmotic conditions prevailing in hypersaline environments result in decreasing metabolic diversity with increasing salinity. Various microbial metabolisms have been shown to occur even at high salinity, including photosynthesis as well as sulfate and nitrate reduction. However, information about anaerobic microbial iron metabolism in hypersaline environments is scarce. We studied th...

Using three different microscopy techniques (epifluorescence, electronic and atomic force microscopy), we showed that high-Mg calcite grains in calcifying microbial mats from the hypersaline lake "La Salada de Chiprana", Spain, contain viruses with a diameter of 50-80 nm. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer analysis revealed that they contain nitrogen and phosphorus in a molar ratio of ~9, whi...

Although viruses of haloarchaea are the predominant predator in hypersaline ecosystem, the culture studies about halovirus-host systems are infancy. The main reason is the tradition methodology (plaque assay) for virus-host interaction depends on culturable and susceptible host. Actually, more than 90% of haloarchaea are unculturable. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an approach for dete...

19.4 Examples of Cyanobacterial Habitats with High Exposure ....................................................... 485 19.4.1 Hot Springs ..................................................................... 485 19.4.2 Intertidal Marine and Hypersaline Habitats .................... 486 19.4.3 Benthic Freshwater Habitats ........................................... 487 19.4.4 Marine and Freshwat...

Fungi were documented in tropical hypersaline microbial mats and their role in the degradation of complex carbohydrates (exopolymeric substance - EPS) was explored. Fungal diversity is higher during the wet season with Acremonium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, and Penicillium among the more common genera. Diversity is also higher in the oxic layer and in young and transient mats. Enrichments with ...

The first report, to our knowledge, on the occurrence of filamentous fungi in the hypersaline (340 g salt l-1) Dead Sea is presented. Three species of filamentous fungi from surface water samples of the Dead Sea were isolated: Gymnascella marismortui (Ascomycota), which is described as a new species, Ulocladium chlamydosporum and Penicillium westlingii (Deuteromycota). G. marismortui and U. chl...

It is generally assumed that hypersaline environments with sodium chloride concentrations close to saturation are dominated by halophilic members of the domain Archaea, while Bacteria are not considered to be relevant in this kind of environment. Here, we report the high abundance and growth of a new group of hitherto-uncultured Bacteria in crystallizer ponds (salinity, from 30 to 37%) from mul...

A novel Janus membrane integrating an omniphobic substrate and an in-air hydrophilic, underwater superoleophobic skin layer was developed to enable membrane distillation (MD) to desalinate hypersaline brine with both hydrophobic foulants and amphiphilic wetting agents. Engineered to overcome the limitations of existing MD membranes, the Janus membrane has been shown to exhibit novel wetting pro...

Pathogenic microorganisms have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to inactivate antibiotics and rendered an urgent need for new antibiotics that would target the emerging multidrug-resistance (Butler et al., 2013). Consequently, search for novel sources of potent antibiotics is desperately needed to develop potent drugs. Microbial resources have made an incredible contribution to the antibiotic d...

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...