The concurrence of microorganisms in niches that are hostile like extremes of temperature, pH, salt concentration and high pressure depends upon novel molecular mechanisms to enhance the stability of their proteins, nucleic acids, lipids and cell membranes. The structural, physiological and genomic features of extremophiles that make them capable of withstanding extremely selective environmental conditions are particularly fascinating. Highly stable enzymes exhibiting several industrial and biotechnological properties are being isolated and purified from these extremophiles. Successful gene cloning of the purified extremozymes in the mesophilic hosts has already been done. Various extremozymes such as amylase, lipase, xylanase, cellulase and protease from thermophiles, halothermophiles and psychrophiles are of industrial interests due to their enhanced stability at forbidding conditions. In this review, we made an attempt to point out the unique features of extremophiles, particularly thermophiles and psychrophiles, at the structural, genomic and proteomic levels, which allow for functionality at harsh conditions focusing on the temperature tolerance by them.

中文翻译：

---

Extremophile – 针对极端条件和应用的自适应策略

微生物在诸如极端温度、pH、盐浓度和高压等恶劣环境中的共存取决于增强其蛋白质、核酸、脂质和细胞膜稳定性的新分子机制。极端微生物的结构、生理和基因组特征使它们能够承受极端选择性的环境条件，这尤其令人着迷。正在从这些极端微生物中分离和纯化具有多种工业和生物技术特性的高度稳定的酶。已在嗜温宿主中成功克隆纯化的极端酶。来自嗜热菌的各种极端酶，例如淀粉酶、脂肪酶、木聚糖酶、纤维素酶和蛋白酶，嗜盐嗜热菌和嗜冷菌因其在恶劣条件下的稳定性增强而具有工业价值。在这篇综述中，我们试图指出极端微生物，特别是嗜热微生物和嗜冷微生物在结构、基因组和蛋白质组水平上的独特特征，这些特征允许在严苛条件下发挥功能，重点是它们的温度耐受性。