About this Research Topic
Geothermal fields around the world, including pools, ponds, springs, and fumaroles of different temperatures, present different physical and geochemical characteristics that go beyond temperature, such as acidic to alkaline pH, exposure to high radiation, or high salinity or metal content. These diverse environmental conditions shape the nature and structure of the microbial communities that have adapted to cope with extreme conditions. However, there is still no consensus on the effect of environmental variables (other than temperature) on the microbial community structure, or the impact of these communities on the geochemistry of each geothermal field.
These interactions within geothermal microbial ecosystems, and between them and the environment, motivate fundamental scientific exploration: understanding the microbial impact on the geochemistry of a particular area; defining biogeographical patterns among and within different geothermal fields; characterizing the cellular mechanisms involved in tolerance or resistance to diverse extreme conditions; and exploring microbial analogs of early life on Earth. Regarding applications, microbial communities and specific isolates from geothermal fields may have biotechnological potential as shown by many examples in bioremediation and use of extremozymes.
This Research Topic aims to present recent advances in characterizing bacterial, archaeal, and also viral diversity and community structure of different geothermal areas around the world, introduce strategies of how these microorganisms cope with extreme environmental conditions, and how they could be used to design or optimize biotechnological processes.
This Research Topic will include Original Research Articles and Reviews addressing the following topics:
• Omics or culture-based studies that describe the microbial community structure and novel species that inhabit geothermal environments (bacteria, archaea, eukaryotes, and viruses).
• Studies that explore interactions between the members of microbial communities of geothermal areas and with the geochemistry of the environment.
• Omics-based studies that reveal novel aspects on tolerance or resistance of microbial communities or isolated extremophiles to extreme conditions associated with geothermal life.
• Works describing how the metabolic or physiological characteristics of the microbial communities or isolated extremophiles of geothermal environments could be used in biotechnological applications.
These interactions within geothermal microbial ecosystems, and between them and the environment, motivate fundamental scientific exploration: understanding the microbial impact on the geochemistry of a particular area; defining biogeographical patterns among and within different geothermal fields; characterizing the cellular mechanisms involved in tolerance or resistance to diverse extreme conditions; and exploring microbial analogs of early life on Earth. Regarding applications, microbial communities and specific isolates from geothermal fields may have biotechnological potential as shown by many examples in bioremediation and use of extremozymes.
This Research Topic aims to present recent advances in characterizing bacterial, archaeal, and also viral diversity and community structure of different geothermal areas around the world, introduce strategies of how these microorganisms cope with extreme environmental conditions, and how they could be used to design or optimize biotechnological processes.
This Research Topic will include Original Research Articles and Reviews addressing the following topics:
• Omics or culture-based studies that describe the microbial community structure and novel species that inhabit geothermal environments (bacteria, archaea, eukaryotes, and viruses).
• Studies that explore interactions between the members of microbial communities of geothermal areas and with the geochemistry of the environment.
• Omics-based studies that reveal novel aspects on tolerance or resistance of microbial communities or isolated extremophiles to extreme conditions associated with geothermal life.
• Works describing how the metabolic or physiological characteristics of the microbial communities or isolated extremophiles of geothermal environments could be used in biotechnological applications.
Keywords: extremophilic biodiversity, genomics, proteomics, biotechnology, virus, novel extremophilic species, extremophile, archaea, geothermal, extremozymes
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
