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"Extreme Environments"
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Extreme places : could you live here?
Describes inhabited locations on Earth with some of the most extreme climates and weather patterns, including the coldest place on Earth and the most polluted city.
Book
Biofilms: The Microbial “Protective Clothing” in Extreme Environments
Microbial biofilms are communities of aggregated microbial cells embedded in a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Biofilms are recalcitrant to extreme environments, and can protect microorganisms from ultraviolet (UV) radiation, extreme temperature, extreme pH, high salinity, high pressure, poor nutrients, antibiotics, etc., by acting as “protective clothing”. In recent years, research works on biofilms have been mainly focused on biofilm-associated infections and strategies for combating microbial biofilms. In this review, we focus instead on the contemporary perspectives of biofilm formation in extreme environments, and describe the fundamental roles of biofilm in protecting microbial exposure to extreme environmental stresses and the regulatory factors involved in biofilm formation. Understanding the mechanisms of biofilm formation in extreme environments is essential for the employment of beneficial microorganisms and prevention of harmful microorganisms.
Journal Article
Extreme animals : the toughest creatures on Earth
Animals adapt to their surroundings for survival. Learn how they survive in conditions that humans never would. Are you ready for the competition? From the persevering emperor penguins of the South Pole to the brave bacteria inside bubbling volcanoes, from the hardy reptiles of the driest deserts to the squash-proof creatures of the deepest seabeds, animals have adapted to survive in conditions that would kill a human faster than you can say \"coffin.\" Discover how they do it in this amazing natural history book from a celebrated team - and find out who wins the title of the toughtest animal of them all!
Book
When Salt Meddles Between Plant, Soil, and Microorganisms
In extreme environments, the relationships between species are often exclusive and based on complex mechanisms. This review aims to give an overview of the microbial ecology of saline soils, but in particular of what is known about the interaction between plants and their soil microbiome, and the mechanisms linked to higher resistance of some plants to harsh saline soil conditions. Agricultural soils affected by salinity is a matter of concern in many countries. Soil salinization is caused by readily soluble salts containing anions like chloride, sulphate and nitrate, as well as sodium and potassium cations. Salinity harms plants because it affects their photosynthesis, respiration, distribution of assimilates and causes wilting, drying, and death of entire organs. Despite these life-unfavorable conditions, saline soils are unique ecological niches inhabited by extremophilic microorganisms that have specific adaptation strategies. Important traits related to the resistance to salinity are also associated with the rhizosphere-microbiota and the endophytic compartments of plants. For some years now, there have been studies dedicated to the isolation and characterization of species of plants' endophytes living in extreme environments. The metabolic and biotechnological potential of some of these microorganisms is promising. However, the selection of microorganisms capable of living in association with host plants and promoting their survival under stressful conditions is only just beginning. Understanding the mechanisms of these processes and the specificity of such interactions will allow us to focus our efforts on species that can potentially be used as beneficial bioinoculants for crops.
Journal Article
Why do glaciers grind? : all about extreme environments
This volume introduces readers to the idea of extreme environments.
Book
Whole-Genome Sequencing of Native Sheep Provides Insights into Rapid Adaptations to Extreme Environments
Global climate change has a significant effect on extreme environments and a profound influence on species survival. However, little is known of the genome-wide pattern of livestock adaptations to extreme environments over a short time frame following domestication. Sheep (Ovis aries) have become well adapted to a diverse range of agroecological zones, including certain extreme environments (e.g., plateaus and deserts), during their post-domestication (approximately 8–9 kya) migration and differentiation. Here, we generated whole-genome sequences from 77 native sheep, with an average effective sequencing depth of ∼5× for 75 samples and ∼42× for 2 samples. Comparative genomic analyses among sheep in contrasting environments, that is, plateau (>4,000 m above sea level) versus lowland (<100 m), high-altitude region (>1500 m) versus low-altitude region (<1300 m), desert (<10 mm average annual precipitation) versus highly humid region (>600 mm), and arid zone (<400 mm) versus humid zone (>400 mm), detected a novel set of candidate genes as well as pathways and GO categories that are putatively associated with hypoxia responses at high altitudes and water reabsorption in arid environments. In addition, candidate genes and GO terms functionally related to energy metabolism and body size variations were identified. This study offers novel insights into rapid genomic adaptations to extreme environments in sheep and other animals, and provides a valuable resource for future research on livestock breeding in response to climate change.
Journal Article
Extreme stresses, niches, and positive species interactions along stress gradients
Since proposed two decades ago, the stress-gradient hypothesis (SGH), suggesting that species interactions shift from competition to facilitation with stress, has been widely examined. Despite broad support across species and ecosystems, ecologists debate whether the SGH applies to extreme environments, arguing that species interactions switch to competition or collapse under extreme stress. We show that facilitation often expands distributions on species borders. SGH exceptions occur when weak stress gradients or stresses outside of species' niches are examined, multiple stresses co-occur canceling out their effects, temporally dependent effects are involved, or results are improperly analyzed. We suggest that ecologists resolve debates by standardizing key SGH terms, such as fundamental and realized niche, stress gradients vs. environmental gradients, by quantitatively defining extreme stress, and by critically evaluating the functionality of stress gradients. We also suggest that new research examine the breadth and relevance of the SGH. More rigor needs to be applied to SGH tests to identify actual exceptions rather than those due to failures to meet its underlying assumptions, so that the general principles of the SGH and its exceptions can be incorporated into ecological theory, conservation strategies, and environmental change predictions.
Journal Article
Genome of Crucihimalaya himalaica, a close relative of Arabidopsis, shows ecological adaptation to high altitude
Crucihimalaya himalaica, a close relative of Arabidopsis and Capsella, grows on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) about 4,000 m above sea level and represents an attractive model system for studying speciation and ecological adaptation in extreme environments. We assembled a draft genome sequence of 234.72 Mb encoding 27,019 genes and investigated its origin and adaptive evolutionary mechanisms. Phylogenomic analyses based on 4,586 single-copy genes revealed that C. himalaica is most closely related to Capsella (estimated divergence 8.8 to 12.2 Mya), whereas both species form a sister clade to Arabidopsis thaliana and Arabidopsis lyrata, from which they diverged between 12.7 and 17.2 Mya. LTR retrotransposons in C. himalaica proliferated shortly after the dramatic uplift and climatic change of the Himalayas from the Late Pliocene to Pleistocene. Compared with closely related species, C. himalaica showed significant contraction and pseudogenization in gene families associated with disease resistance and also significant expansion in gene families associated with ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis and DNA repair. We identified hundreds of genes involved in DNA repair, ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, and reproductive processes with signs of positive selection. Gene families showing dramatic changes in size and genes showing signs of positive selection are likely candidates for C. himalaica’s adaptation to intense radiation, low temperature, and pathogen-depauperate environments in the QTP. Loss of function at the S-locus, the reason for the transition to selff-ertilization of C. himalaica, might have enabled its QTP occupation. Overall, the genome sequence of C. himalaica provides insights into the mechanisms of plant adaptation to extreme environments.
Journal Article