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Psychrophiles or cryophiles (adj. psychrophilic or cryophilic) are extremophile that are capable of cell growth and reproduction in low temperatures, ranging from to . They are found in places that are permanently cold, such as the polar regions and the deep sea. They can be contrasted with , which are organisms that thrive at unusually high temperatures, and at intermediate temperatures. Psychrophile is Greek for 'cold-loving', .
Many such organisms are bacteria or archaea, but some such as , snow algae, phytoplankton, fungi, and Chironomidae, are also classified as psychrophiles.
They must also overcome the stiffening of their lipid cell membrane, as this is important for the survival and functionality of these organisms. To accomplish this, psychrophiles adapt lipid membrane structures that have a high content of short, unsaturated fatty acids. Compared to longer saturated fatty acids, incorporating this type of fatty acid allows for the lipid cell membrane to have a lower melting point, which increases the fluidity of the membranes. In addition, are present in the membrane, which help modulate the fluidity of it.
Antifreeze proteins are also synthesized to keep psychrophiles' internal space liquid, and to protect their DNA when temperatures drop below water's freezing point. By doing so, the protein prevents any ice formation or recrystallization process from occurring.
The enzymes of these organisms have been hypothesized to engage in an activity-stability-flexibility relationship as a method for adapting to the cold; the flexibility of their enzyme structure will increase as a way to compensate for the freezing effect of their environment.
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. It has been debated whether VBNC is an active survival strategy or if eventually the organism's cells will no longer be able to be revived. There is proof however it may be very effective – Gram positive bacteria Actinobacteria have been shown to have lived about 500,000 years in the permafrost conditions of Antarctica, Canada, and Siberia.
Among the bacteria that can tolerate extreme cold are Arthrobacter sp., Psychrobacter sp. and members of the genera Halomonas, Pseudomonas, Hyphomonas, and Sphingomonas. Species of Acinetobacter, Aerococcus, Flavobacterium, Listeria, Pseudomonas, Serratia, and Yersinia are commonly present in animal-derived foods. Another example is Chryseobacterium greenlandensis, a psychrophile that was found in 120,000-year-old ice.
Umbilicaria antarctica and Xanthoria elegans are lichens that have been recorded photosynthesizing at temperatures ranging down to , and they can grow down to around . Some multicellular eukaryotes can also be metabolically active at sub-zero temperatures, such as some conifers; those in the Chironomidae family are still active at .
Microalgae that live in snow and ice include green, brown, and red algae. Snow algae species such as Chloromonas sp., Chlamydomonas sp., and Chlorella sp. are found in polar environments.
Some phytoplankton can tolerate extremely cold temperatures and high salinities that occur in brine channels when sea ice forms in polar oceans. Some examples are diatoms like Fragilariopsis cylindrus, Nitzchia lecointeii, Entomoneis kjellmanii, Nitzchia stellata, Thalassiosira australis, Berkelaya adeliense, and Navicula glaciei.
Penicillium is a genus of fungi found in a wide range of environments including extreme cold.
Among the psychrophile insects, the Grylloblattidae or ice crawlers, found on mountaintops, have optimal temperatures between . (2025). 9780521821490, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521821490 The wingless midge (Chironomidae) Belgica antarctica can tolerate salt, being frozen and strong ultraviolet, and has the smallest known genome of any insect. The small genome, of 99 million , is thought to be adaptive to extreme environments.
Psychrotrophic bacteria are of particular concern to the dairy industry and the use of dairy products. They not only spoil milk products but also are capable of producing heat-resistant enzymes and toxins that can be dangerous to humans. Most psychrotrophic bacteria are killed by pasteurization; however, they can be present in milk as post-pasteurization contaminants due to less than adequate sanitation practices. According to the Food Science Department at Cornell University, psychrotrophs are bacteria capable of growth at temperatures at or less than 7 °C. At freezing temperatures, growth of psychrotrophic bacteria becomes negligible or virtually stops. Steven C. Murphy, "Shelf Life of Fluid Milk Products – Microbial Spoilage", Food Science Department, Cornell University.. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
All three subunits of the RecBCD enzyme are essential for physiological activities of the enzyme in the Antarctic Pseudomonas syringae, namely, repairing of DNA damage and supporting the growth at low temperature. The RecBCD enzymes are exchangeable between the psychrophilic P. syringae and the mesophilic E. coli when provided with the entire protein complex from same species. However, the RecBC proteins (RecBCPs and RecBCEc) of the two bacteria are not equivalent; the RecBCEc is proficient in DNA recombination and repair, and supports the growth of P. syringae at low temperature, while RecBCPs is insufficient for these functions. Finally, both helicase and nuclease activity of the RecBCDPs are although important for DNA repair and growth of P. syringae at low temperature, the RecB-nuclease activity is not essential in vivo.
The similarity between these two is that they are both capable of growing at zero, but optimum and upper temperature limits for the growth are lower for psychrophiles compared to psychrotrophs. Psychrophiles are also more often isolated from permanently cold habitats compared to psychrotrophs. Although psychrophilic enzymes remain under-used because the cost of production and processing at low temperatures is higher than for the commercial enzymes that are presently in use, the attention and resurgence of research interest in psychrophiles and psychrotrophs will be a contributor to the betterment of the environment and the desire to conserve energy.
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