What are Cryophiles?

Psychrophiles or Cryophiles (adj. cryophilic) are extremophilic organisms that are capable of growth and reproduction in cold temperatures. They can be contrasted with thermophiles, which thrive at unusually hot temperatures.

What is Cryophilic bacteria on the basis of temperature?

Thermophile and cryophile archaea and bacteria. Extremophilic organisms are capable of growth in extreme environments. Thermophiles are adapted to high temperatures (up to 122°C) while cryophiles (or psychrophiles) live at low temperatures (down to -20°C).

What are Psychrophilic bacteria?

Psychrophilic bacteria are defined as cold-loving bacteria. The psychrotrophs are cold-tolerant bacteria, but their maximal growth temperature ranges above 20°C and in many cases their optimal growth temperature is also above 20°C. A better term for these organisms that withstand cold temperatures is psychrotolerant.

Is E coli a Psychrophile?

coli, Salmonella spp., and Lactobacillus spp.) are mesophiles. Organisms called psychrotrophs, also known as psychrotolerant, prefer cooler environments, from a high temperature of 25 °C to refrigeration temperature about 4 °C. They are also responsible for the spoilage of refrigerated food.

How are Cryophiles adapted?

Antifreeze proteins basically help a psychrophiles to live in colder temperatures by lowering the average temperature it could live in, drastically. This is very important in cryoprotection, which is the protection of cryophiles from denaturing in its cold temperature.

What habitats do Cryophiles live in?

psychrophilic or cryophilic) are extremophilic organisms that are capable of growth and reproduction in low temperatures, ranging from −20 °C to +10 °C. They are found in places that are permanently cold, such as the polar regions and the deep sea.

How are Cryophiles adapted to its environment?

Where are Psychrophilic bacteria found?

Habitat. The cold environments that psychrophiles inhabit are ubiquitous on Earth, as a large fraction of our planetary surface experiences temperatures lower than 15 °C. They are present in permafrost, polar ice, glaciers, snowfields and deep ocean waters.

What are some examples of hyperthermophiles?

Many hyperthermophiles are from the domain Archaea. Some of them are Pyrolobus fumarii (an archaeon that can thrive at 113 °C in Atlantic hydrothermal vents), Pyrococcus furiosus (an archaeon that can thrive at 100 °C), Methanococcus jannaschii, Sulfolubus , etc.

Are hyperthermophiles a concern in health care?

Are they a concern in health care? It depends on the bacteria. If hyperthermophiles survive the autoclave temperatures, they can’t multiply at room temperatures. If they can go into a dormant state though it could cause a risk.

Do bacteria need carbon?

Bacteria, like all living cells, require energy and nutrients to build proteins and structural membranes and drive biochemical processes. Bacteria require sources of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, iron and a large number of other molecules. Carbon, nitrogen, and water are used in the highest quantities.

How are cryophiles different from thermophile bacteria?

Thermophiles are adapted to high temperatures (up to 122°C) while cryophiles (or psychrophiles) live at low temperatures (down to -20°C). Some of these organisms are obligate thermophiles, thriving at extreme temperatures, while others are thermotolerant although with suboptimal growth.

Which is an example of a viable but nonculturable cryophile?

Certain cryophiles, such as Gram-negative bacteria Vibrio and Aeromonas spp., can transition into a viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state. During VBNC, a micro-organism can respire and use substrates for metabolism – however, it cannot replicate. An advantage of this state is that it is highly reversible.

What’s the best growth temperature for a psychrophilic bacteria?

The psychrotrophs are cold-tolerant bacteria, but their maximal growth temperature ranges above 20°C and in many cases their optimal growth temperature is also above 20°C. A better term for these organisms that withstand cold temperatures is psychrotolerant.

Are there any bacteria that are psychrophilic?

A review of the literature indicates that the organisms described were actually psychrotrophs (as defined previously) with the possibility of one psychrophilic exception. For many years, it was thought that there were no bacteria that could be termed psychrophiles, only yeasts and certain algae.