What is Xerophilic Mould?
Xerophilic fungi are yeasts and moulds that are capable of growth at or below a water activity (aw) of 0.85. These microorganisms have developed physiological mechanisms that enable their biochemical pathways to function in environments where little water is available.
Where are Xerophiles found?
They are common all around the globe, and include, for example, marine ponds and salt marshes that are subjected to evaporation, salt or soda lakes, and sea-salt and manmade salterns (Trüper and Galinski, 1986).
How are Xerophiles adapted to their environment?
Xerophilic microorganisms adapt to low water activity by increasing the concentration of negatively charged phospholipids that facilitates the preservation of membrane bilayer structural integrity.
Where do Hyperthermophiles live?
deep-sea hydrothermal vents
The most extreme hyperthermophiles live on the superheated walls of deep-sea hydrothermal vents, requiring temperatures of at least 90 °C for survival. An extraordinary heat-tolerant hyperthermophile is Strain 121, which has been able to double its population during 24 hours in an autoclave at 121 °C (hence its name).
Where do hyperthermophiles live?
Are Barophiles and Piezophiles the same?
Barophiles are defined as bacteria that metabolize or function better at high pressure than they do at atmospheric pressure. Piezophiles are bacteria that have their maximum growth rate, over all permissible temperatures, at high pressure.
What makes the extreme xerophilic mould so special?
The extreme xerophilic mould Xeromyces bisporus–growth and competition at various water activities Little is known about the mould, Xeromyces bisporus, unique in its strong xerophilicity and ability to grow at water activity (a(w)) 0.62, lower than for any other known organism.
Which xerophilic food-borne mould grows at the lowest Aw?
Of all xerophilic food-borne moulds, and indeed, of all known organisms, Xeromyces bisporus has been reported to grow at the lowest aw, namely, 0.61–0.62 ( Pitt and Christian, 1968 ), a finding that we have confirmed (unpublished data).
What is a xerophilic plant?
Xerophiles are “xerotolerant”, meaning tolerant of dry conditions. They can often survive in environments with water activity below 0.8; above which is typical for most life on Earth. Typically xerotolerance is used with respect to matric drying, where a substance has a low water concentration. These environments include arid desert soils.
What are xerophilic fungi and how are they defined?
Xerophilic fungi are defined by the ability to grow under reduced water activity conditions, i.e., to complete their life cycles on substrates that have been dried or concentrated, in the presence of high levels of soluble solids such as salts or sugars ( Pitt and Hocking, 2009; Rico-Munoz et al., 2019 ).
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