Chin, Jason P and Megaw, Julianne and Magill, Caroline L and Nowotarski, Krzysztof and Williams, Jim P and Bhaganna, Prashanth and Linton, Mark and Patterson, Margaret F and Underwood, Graham JC and Mswaka, Allen Y and Hallsworth, John E (2010) 'Solutes determine the temperature windows for microbial survival and growth.' Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107 (17). pp. 7835-7840. ISSN 0027-8424

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Abstract

<jats:p>Microbial cells, and ultimately the Earth's biosphere, function within a narrow range of physicochemical conditions. For the majority of ecosystems, productivity is cold-limited, and it is microbes that represent the failure point. This study was carried out to determine if naturally occurring solutes can extend the temperature windows for activity of microorganisms. We found that substances known to disorder cellular macromolecules (chaotropes) did expand microbial growth windows, fungi preferentially accumulated chaotropic metabolites at low temperature, and chemical activities of solutes determined microbial survival at extremes of temperature as well as pressure. This information can enhance the precision of models used to predict if extraterrestrial and other hostile environments are able to support life; furthermore, chaotropes may be used to extend the growth windows for key microbes, such as saprotrophs, in cold ecosystems and manmade biomes.</jats:p>

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	biosphere function; chaotropic agents; fungal ecology and limits of life; osmotic stress; psychrophilic bacteria
Subjects:	Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology
Divisions:	Faculty of Science and Health Faculty of Science and Health > Life Sciences, School of
SWORD Depositor:	Elements
Depositing User:	Elements
Date Deposited:	06 Oct 2011 14:54
Last Modified:	15 Mar 2022 03:43
URI:	http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/990

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