Halophiles: A great day to be a little extra salty

Welcome to ArchaeaCast! In our second episode, our hosts Priyanka Chatterjee and Connor Hines talk about Halophiles, the salt-loving Archaea! In the second part of the episode, Dr. Alex Phillips interviews Prof. Amy Schimd, from Duke University.

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Some species and genera names have changed since this episode was recorded. Current nomenclature can be found here.

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Bibliography:

Cited in the episode:

Pietrangelo, A. "Pink Himalayan Salt: Benefits, Risks, and Alternatives." Healthline, 2 Sept. 2023

Papp, ZJ. "Morphological and Microchemical Characterization of Himalayan Salt Samples." Revue Roumaine de Chimie, vol. 61, no. 3, Mar. 2016

Duarte CM et al D. Discovery of Afifi, the shallowest and southernmost brine pool reported in the Red Sea. Sci Rep. 2020

Wilkanski, B. Life in the Dead Sea. Nature 138, 467 (1936).

Yim, K.,et al et al. Occurrence of viable, red-pigmented haloarchaea in the plumage of captive flamingoes. Sci Rep 5, 16425 (2015).

Giani M et al Haloarchaeal Carotenoids: Healthy Novel Compounds from Extreme Environments. Mar Drugs. 2019 Sep 6;17(9):524.

Aharon Oren, John E. Hallsworth, Microbial weeds in hypersaline habitats: the enigma of the weed-like Haloferax mediterranei, FEMS Microbiology Letters, 2014.

DasSarma S, et al Extremophilic models for astrobiology: haloarchaeal survival strategies and pigments for remote sensing. Extremophiles. 2020 Jan;24(1):31-41. doi: 10.1007/s00792-019-01126-3.

Cited in the interview:

Biotechnological applications of haloarchaea: Mitra, R., Xu, T., Xiang, H. et al. Current developments on polyhydroxyalkanoates synthesis by using halophiles as a promising cell factory. Microb Cell Fact 19, 86 (2020).

Haloarchaea can survive months of desiccation: Kottemann M, Kish A, Iloanusi C, Bjork S, DiRuggiero J. Physiological responses of the halophilic archaeon Halobacterium sp. strain NRC1 to desiccation and gamma irradiation. Extremophiles. 2005 Jun;9(3):219-27. doi: 10.1007/s00792-005-0437-4. Epub 2005 Apr 21. PMID: 15844015.

Halite deposits on Mars:M. M. Osterloo et al. Chloride-Bearing Materials in the Southern Highlands of Mars.Science 319,1651-1654(2008), among others

Haloarchaea can survive for millennia in salt inclusions: Fendrihan S, Dornmayr-Pfaffenhuemer M, Gerbl FW, Holzinger A, Grösbacher M, Briza P, Erler A, Gruber C, Plätzer K, Stan-Lotter H. Spherical particles of halophilic archaea correlate with exposure to low water activity--implications for microbial survival in fluid inclusions of ancient halite. Geobiology. 2012 Sep;10(5):424-33. doi: 10.1111/j.1472-4669.2012.00337.x. Epub 2012 Jul 15. PMID: 22804926; PMCID: PMC3495301, among others

Halo handbook (protocols) by Mike Dyall-Smith

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Cool videos and pictures:

Hot tub of despair, Pink Lakes

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