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Biology Laboratory Manual, 6/e
Darrell S. Vodopich, Baylor University
Randy Moore, University of Minnesota--Minneapolis

Extremophiles

Though extreme temperatures, pH, salinity, and pressure may kill most organisms, some actually thrive in these conditions. Organisms that live in these harsh conditions are called ‘extremophiles’. These organisms can be found living along volcanic vents at the bottom of the ocean, near freezing conditions in Antarctica, and in highly saline water like the Dead Sea. In a recent article by Discover magazine (December 2000), microbiologist Michael Madigan of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale says that heat-tolerant microbes may have internal forces that keep their proteins so tightly folded that they don’t fall apart in high temperatures. Organisms that survive in other harsh conditions must have similar molecular adaptations.








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