About this Research Topic
Extremophiles have been studied for many decades - these microorganisms can thrive under a vast range of conditions, including extreme temperature, pH, pressure, radiation, salinity, energy, and nutrient limitation. Life in extreme environments has evolved to render solutions that overcome the challenges presented by such conditions. Among these solutions include extremozymes and extremolytes, an invaluable collection of natural, renewable, and biological resources with immense potential for applications aimed at the development of a sustainable bio-economy, especially in biotechnology and other industrial sectors.
In line with this observation, extremophilic DNA polymerases have been instrumental in driving unprecedented progress in recombinant DNA technologies applied in diverse areas, including agriculture and human health. Thermostable and halotolerant enzymes are likely to feature significantly in the renewable energy sector of the future, including bioethanol production and the Gas-to-Liquid effort, which aims at converting greenhouse gases such as CO2 and methane to liquid fuels. Furthermore, due to the stability of extremophilic protein homologs, insights to the structure and function of protein/protein complexes, including those critical to protein degradation, were solved to advance our understanding of fundamental processes across the three domains of life.
This Research Topic is launched in collaboration with the Extremophiles2022 Congress, and it aims to publish the latest advances, and state-of-the-art research on basic and applied aspects of life in extreme environments. In order to stimulate high quality research and promote multidisciplinary interactions, we particularly welcome contributions that highlight the multi-disciplinarity and synergies necessary to address contemporary scientific questions in this field, and point to novel ways of creating sustainable solutions and technologies.
We are encouraging congress attendees, as well as researchers who are unable to attend, to submit Original Research articles, Reviews, and Methods, on the subtopics, including, but not limited to:
• Physiology and extremophilic traits:
- Including -omics investigations of processes and mechanistic insights in the biology of extremophiles
- Investigations of novel isolates from extreme environments
- Characterization of adaptive mechanisms to extreme conditions.
• Harnessing the biotechnological potential of extremophiles for a sustainable future:
- Characterization of novel enzymes or products
- Development of genetic toolkit.
• Extremophilic communities and microbial ecology
- Community composition and interactions
- Impact of the communities on their environment.
• Extremophiles: Link Between Earth and Astrobiology
- Detecting the building blocks of life
- Biosignatures.
In line with this observation, extremophilic DNA polymerases have been instrumental in driving unprecedented progress in recombinant DNA technologies applied in diverse areas, including agriculture and human health. Thermostable and halotolerant enzymes are likely to feature significantly in the renewable energy sector of the future, including bioethanol production and the Gas-to-Liquid effort, which aims at converting greenhouse gases such as CO2 and methane to liquid fuels. Furthermore, due to the stability of extremophilic protein homologs, insights to the structure and function of protein/protein complexes, including those critical to protein degradation, were solved to advance our understanding of fundamental processes across the three domains of life.
This Research Topic is launched in collaboration with the Extremophiles2022 Congress, and it aims to publish the latest advances, and state-of-the-art research on basic and applied aspects of life in extreme environments. In order to stimulate high quality research and promote multidisciplinary interactions, we particularly welcome contributions that highlight the multi-disciplinarity and synergies necessary to address contemporary scientific questions in this field, and point to novel ways of creating sustainable solutions and technologies.
We are encouraging congress attendees, as well as researchers who are unable to attend, to submit Original Research articles, Reviews, and Methods, on the subtopics, including, but not limited to:
• Physiology and extremophilic traits:
- Including -omics investigations of processes and mechanistic insights in the biology of extremophiles
- Investigations of novel isolates from extreme environments
- Characterization of adaptive mechanisms to extreme conditions.
• Harnessing the biotechnological potential of extremophiles for a sustainable future:
- Characterization of novel enzymes or products
- Development of genetic toolkit.
• Extremophilic communities and microbial ecology
- Community composition and interactions
- Impact of the communities on their environment.
• Extremophiles: Link Between Earth and Astrobiology
- Detecting the building blocks of life
- Biosignatures.
Keywords: Origin of life, Ecology, Astrobiology, Molecular biology, Physiology, Biotechnology, Extremophiles
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.
