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Life in extreme environments

Author

Listed:
  • Lynn J. Rothschild

    (NASA Ames Research Center)

  • Rocco L. Mancinelli

    (NASA Ames Research Center)

Abstract

Each recent report of liquid water existing elsewhere in the Solar System has reverberated through the international press and excited the imagination of humankind. Why? Because in the past few decades we have come to realize that where there is liquid water on Earth, virtually no matter what the physical conditions, there is life. What we previously thought of as insurmountable physical and chemical barriers to life, we now see as yet another niche harbouring 'extremophiles'. This realization, coupled with new data on the survival of microbes in the space environment and modelling of the potential for transfer of life between celestial bodies, suggests that life could be more common than previously thought. Here we examine critically what it means to be an extremophile, and the implications of this for evolution, biotechnology and especially the search for life in the Universe.

Suggested Citation

  • Lynn J. Rothschild & Rocco L. Mancinelli, 2001. "Life in extreme environments," Nature, Nature, vol. 409(6823), pages 1092-1101, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:409:y:2001:i:6823:d:10.1038_35059215
    DOI: 10.1038/35059215
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Liyan Song, 2023. "Toward Understanding Microbial Ecology to Restore a Degraded Ecosystem," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-9, March.
    2. Esmeralda Vicedo & Avner Schlessinger & Burkhard Rost, 2015. "Environmental Pressure May Change the Composition Protein Disorder in Prokaryotes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(8), pages 1-21, August.
    3. Simona Dzurendova & Boris Zimmermann & Achim Kohler & Valeria Tafintseva & Ondrej Slany & Milan Certik & Volha Shapaval, 2020. "Microcultivation and FTIR spectroscopy-based screening revealed a nutrient-induced co-production of high-value metabolites in oleaginous Mucoromycota fungi," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(6), pages 1-34, June.
    4. Yan-Ling Qi & Ya-Ting Chen & Yuan-Guo Xie & Yu-Xian Li & Yang-Zhi Rao & Meng-Meng Li & Qi-Jun Xie & Xing-Ru Cao & Lei Chen & Yan-Ni Qu & Zhen-Xuan Yuan & Zhi-Chao Xiao & Lu Lu & Jian-Yu Jiao & Wen-She, 2024. "Analysis of nearly 3000 archaeal genomes from terrestrial geothermal springs sheds light on interconnected biogeochemical processes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.
    5. Ross Corkrey & Tom A McMeekin & John P Bowman & David A Ratkowsky & June Olley & Tom Ross, 2014. "Protein Thermodynamics Can Be Predicted Directly from Biological Growth Rates," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(5), pages 1-15, May.
    6. Guoping Ren & Jie Ye & Qichang Hu & Dong Zhang & Yong Yuan & Shungui Zhou, 2024. "Growth of electroautotrophic microorganisms using hydrovoltaic energy through natural water evaporation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    7. Antonia E Dalziel & Steven Delean & Sarah Heinrich & Phillip Cassey, 2016. "Persistence of Low Pathogenic Influenza A Virus in Water: A Systematic Review and Quantitative Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(10), pages 1-24, October.
    8. Liyanage D. Fernando & Yordanis Pérez-Llano & Malitha C. Dickwella Widanage & Anand Jacob & Liliana Martínez-Ávila & Andrew S. Lipton & Nina Gunde-Cimerman & Jean-Paul Latgé & Ramón Alberto Batista-Ga, 2023. "Structural adaptation of fungal cell wall in hypersaline environment," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    9. Silvia Díaz & Ángeles Aguilera & Carolina G. de Figueras & Patricia de Francisco & Sanna Olsson & Fernando Puente-Sánchez & José Eduardo González-Pastor, 2022. "Heterologous Expression of the Phytochelatin Synthase CaPCS2 from Chlamydomonas acidophila and Its Effect on Different Stress Factors in Escherichia coli," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-21, June.
    10. Louis N. Irwin & Abel Méndez & Alberto G. Fairén & Dirk Schulze-Makuch, 2014. "Assessing the Possibility of Biological Complexity on Other Worlds, with an Estimate of the Occurrence of Complex Life in the Milky Way Galaxy," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-16, May.
    11. Paola Di Donato & Andrea Buono & Annarita Poli & Ilaria Finore & Gennaro Roberto Abbamondi & Barbara Nicolaus & Licia Lama, 2018. "Exploring Marine Environments for the Identification of Extremophiles and Their Enzymes for Sustainable and Green Bioprocesses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    12. Lucas Serra Moncadas & Cyrill Hofer & Paul-Adrian Bulzu & Jakob Pernthaler & Adrian-Stefan Andrei, 2024. "Freshwater genome-reduced bacteria exhibit pervasive episodes of adaptive stasis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.

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