Oren Aharon
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, The Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Jerusalem, 9190401, Israel.
NPJ Biodivers. 2024 Aug 2;3(1):18. doi: 10.1038/s44185-024-00050-w.
Our understanding of the microbial diversity inhabiting hypersaline environments, here defined as containing >100-150 g/L salts, has greatly increased in the past five years. Halophiles are found in each of the three domains of life. Many novel types have been cultivated, and metagenomics and other cultivation-independent approaches have revealed the existence of many previously unrecognized lineages. Syntrophic interactions between different phylogenetic lineages have been discovered, such as the symbiosis between members of the archaeal class Halobacteria and the 'Candidatus Nanohalarchaeota'. Metagenomics techniques also have shed light on the biogeography of halophiles, especially of the genera Salinibacter (Bacteria) and Haloquadratum and Halorubrum (Archaea). Exploration of the microbiome of hypersaline lakes led to the discovery of novel types of metabolism previously unknown to occur at high salt concentrations. Studies of environments with high concentrations of chaotropic ions such as magnesium, calcium, and lithium have refined our understanding of the limits of life.
在过去五年中，我们对栖息于高盐环境（这里定义为含盐量>100 - 150克/升）中的微生物多样性的理解有了极大的提高。嗜盐菌存在于生命的三个域中的每一个域。许多新类型的嗜盐菌已被培养出来，宏基因组学和其他不依赖培养的方法揭示了许多以前未被认识的谱系的存在。已发现不同系统发育谱系之间的互营相互作用，例如古菌盐杆菌纲成员与“候选纳米嗜盐古菌属”之间的共生关系。宏基因组学技术也揭示了嗜盐菌的生物地理学，特别是盐杆菌属（细菌）、方形嗜盐古菌属和嗜盐碱红菌属（古菌）的生物地理学。对高盐湖微生物群落的探索导致发现了以前未知在高盐浓度下发生的新型代谢。对含有高浓度离液序列高的离子（如镁、钙和锂）的环境的研究，完善了我们对生命极限的理解。
