Extremophiles are microorganisms that populate habitats considered inhospitable from an anthropocentric point of view and are able to tolerate harsh conditions such as high temperatures, extreme pHs, high concentrations of salts, toxic organic substances, and/or heavy metals. These microorganisms have been broadly studied in the last 30 years and represent precious sources of biomolecules and bioprocesses for many biotechnological applications; in this context, scientific efforts have been focused on the employment of extremophilic microbes and their metabolic pathways to develop biomonitoring and bioremediation strategies to face environmental pollution, as well as to improve biorefineries for the conversion of biomasses into various chemical compounds. This review gives an overview on the peculiar metabolic features of certain extremophilic microorganisms, with a main focus on thermophiles, which make them attractive for biotechnological applications in the field of environmental remediation; moreover, it sheds light on updated genetic systems (also those based on the CRISPR-Cas tool), which expand the potentialities of these microorganisms to be genetically manipulated for various biotechnological purposes.

中文翻译：

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极端微生物，应对环境污染的巧妙工具：从代谢利用到基因组工程

嗜极微生物是生活在从人类中心的角度来看不适宜居住的栖息地的微生物，它们能够忍受恶劣的条件，如高温、极端 pH 值、高浓度的盐、有毒有机物质和/或重金属。这些微生物在过去 30 年中得到了广泛的研究，代表了许多生物技术应用的生物分子和生物过程的宝贵来源；在这方面，科学努力的重点是利用极端微生物及其代谢途径来制定生物监测和生物修复战略，以应对环境污染，并改进生物精炼厂，将生物质转化为各种化合物。这篇综述概述了某些极端微生物的独特代谢特征，主要关注嗜热微生物，这使得它们在环境修复领域的生物技术应用中具有吸引力；此外，它还揭示了更新的遗传系统（以及基于 CRISPR-Cas 工具的遗传系统），这些系统扩大了这些微生物为各种生物技术目的进行基因操纵的潜力。