Prokaryotic extremophiles were the first representatives of life on Earth and they are responsible for the genesis of geological structures during the evolution and creation of all currently known ecosystems. Flexibility of the genome probably allowed life to adapt to a wide spectrum of extreme environments. As a result, modern prokaryotic diversity formed in a framework of physico-chemical factors, and it is composed of: thermophilic, psychrophilic, acidophilic, alkaliphilic, halophilic, barophilic, and radioresistant species. This artificial systematics cannot reflect the multiple actions of different environmental factors since one organism could unite characteristics of several extreme-groups. In this review we show the current status of studies in all fields of extremophiles and summarize the limits of life for different species of microbial extremophiles. We also discuss the finding of extremophiles from unusual places such as soils, and briefly review recent studies of microfossils in meteorites in the context of the significance of microbial extremophiles to Astrobiology.

中文翻译：

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生命极限中的微生物极端微生物。

原核极端微生物是地球上生命的第一个代表，它们负责所有当前已知生态系统的演化和创造过程中地质结构的起源。基因组的灵活性可能使生命适应各种极端环境。结果，现代的原核生物多样性在物理化学因素的框架内形成，并且由以下几类组成：嗜热，嗜冷，嗜酸，嗜碱，嗜盐，耐压和耐辐射的物种。这种人工系统无法反映出不同环境因素的多重作用，因为一个有机体可以团结几个极端群体的特征。在这篇综述中，我们展示了极端微生物所有领域的研究现状，并总结了不同种类的微生物极端微生物的生命极限。我们还讨论了从不寻常地方（例如土壤）中发现极端微生物的情况，并在微生物极端微生物对天体生物学的意义的背景下简要回顾了陨石中微化石的最新研究。