The halophile environment has a number of compelling aspects with regard to the origin of structured polypeptides (i.e., proteogenesis) and, instead of a curious niche that living systems adapted into, the halophile environment is emerging as a candidate "cradle" for proteogenesis. In this viewpoint, a subsequent halophile-to-mesophile transition was a key step in early evolution. Several lines...

C-Phycocyanin was isolated and purified from a uni-algal culture of an extremely halo-tolerant blue-green alga, Coccochloris elabens. This alga can be grown under laboratory conditions in 25% (w/v) NaCl. Purified halophile phycocyanin was characterized by amino acid analysis and the measurement of sedimentation velocity, fluorescence polarization and immunodiffusion as a function of protein con...

sequence is similar for the major and minor DNA components. Parallel experiments with ribosomal RNA revealed a relationship between the extremely halophilic rods and cocci and a more distant relationship to moderate halophiles and to a photosynthetic extreme halophile. Renaturation studies of halophile DNA exclude the possibility that the satellite DNA represents multiple copies of a small epis...

We report the complete sequence of an extreme halophile, Halobacterium sp. NRC-1, harboring a dynamic 2,571,010-bp genome containing 91 insertion sequences representing 12 families and organized into a large chromosome and 2 related minichromosomes. The Halobacterium NRC-1 genome codes for 2,630 predicted proteins, 36% of which are unrelated to any previously reported. Analysis of the genome se...

Raman spectroscopy plays a major role in robust detection of biomolecules and mineral signatures in halophile research. An overview of Raman spectroscopic investigations in halophile research of the last decade is given here to show advantages of the approach, progress made as well as limits of the technique. Raman spectroscopy is an excellent tool to monitor and identify microbial pigments and...

Erythrobacter vulgaris strain O1, a moderate halophile, was isolated from a beach in Johor, Malaysia. Here, we present the draft genome and suggest potential applications of this bacterium.

Halophilic archaea/bacteria adapt to different salt concentration, namely extreme, moderate and low. These type of adaptations may occur as a result of modification of protein structure and other changes in different cell organelles. Thus proteins may play an important role in the adaptation of halophilic archaea/bacteria to saline conditions. The Halophile protein database (HProtDB) is a syste...

A history of halophile research reveals the commitment of scientists to uncovering the secrets of the limits of life, in particular life in high salt concentration and under extreme osmotic pressure. During the last 40 years, halophile scientists have indeed made important contributions to extremophile research, and prior international halophiles congresses have documented both the historical a...