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  • © 2007

Life in Extreme Environments

  • An intriguing look at how life can adapt to many different extreme environments
  • Where are the limits for life development
  • What are the different strategies used by organisms to adapt to different extreme environments
  • The first item in the Astrobiology Road Map is the study of extremophilic organisms
  • Extremophilic research is needed to explore the potential applications of these organisms

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Table of contents (28 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages I-VIII
  2. Access to glacial and subglacial environments in the Solar System by melting probe technology

    • Stephan Ulamec, Jens Biele, Oliver Funke, Marc Engelhardt
    Pages 1-24
  3. Thermostable proteins as probe for the design of advanced fluorescence biosensors

    • Marcella de Champdoré, Maria Staiano, Vincenzo Aurilia, Olesia V. Stepanenko, Antonietta Parracino, Mosè Rossi et al.
    Pages 45-54
  4. Astrobiological significance of minerals on Mars surface environment

    • Jesus Martinez-Frias, Gabriel Amaral, Luis Vázquez
    Pages 55-67
  5. Viruses in extreme environments

    • Marc Le Romancer, Mélusine Gaillard, Claire Geslin, Daniel Prieur
    Pages 99-113
  6. Microbial ecology of submerged marine caves and holes characterized by high levels of hydrogen sulphide

    • Francesco Canganella, Giovanna Bianconi, Chiaki Kato, Juan Gonzalez
    Pages 115-124
  7. Extremely halophilic archaea and the issue of long-term microbial survival

    • Sergiu Fendrihan, Andrea Legat, Marion Pfaffenhuemer, Claudia Gruber, Gerhard Weidler, Friedrich Gerbl et al.
    Pages 125-140
  8. Fungi in Antarctica

    • Serena Ruisi, Donatella Barreca, Laura Selbmann, Laura Zucconi, Silvano Onofri
    Pages 161-175
  9. Ultraviolet radiation shapes seaweed communities

    • Kai Bischof, Ivan Gómez, Markus Molis, Dieter Hanelt, Ulf Karsten, Ulrike Lüder et al.
    Pages 187-212
  10. Life strategy, ecophysiology and ecology of seaweeds in polar waters

    • C. Wiencke, M. N. Clayton, I. Gómez, K. Iken, U. H. Lüder, C. D. Amsler et al.
    Pages 213-244
  11. Some views on plants in polar and alpine regions

    • F. E. Wielgolaski, S. R. Karlsen
    Pages 251-263
  12. Desiccation-tolerant plants in dry environments

    • T.-N. Le, S. J. McQueen-Mason
    Pages 265-275
  13. Energy dependant plant stress acclimation

    • Cristina Dobrota
    Pages 277-285
  14. Adaptations to hypoxia in hydrothermal-vent and cold-seep invertebrates

    • Stéphane Hourdez, François H. Lallier
    Pages 297-313

About this book

From the deepest seafloor to the highest mountain, from the hottest region to the cold Antarctic plateau, environments labeled as extreme are numerous on Earth and they present a wide variety of features and characteristics. The life processes occurring within these environments are equally diverse, not only depending on stress factors (e.g. temperature, pressure, pH and chemicals) but also on the type of life forms, ranging from microbes to higher species. How is life limited by and adapted to extreme external biotic and abiotic factors? This key question summarises the deliberations raised by this exciting and fascinating research area. Addressing the challenge of answering this question would help to reveal new insights and refine theories concerning the origin and evolution of life on our planet, as well as life beyond Earth. Investigating life processes under extreme conditions can also bring clues for understanding and predicting ecosystems' responses to global changes. Furthermore, this area of research has a wide application potential in the fields of (bio)technology, chemical industry, pharmaceutics, biomedicine or cosmetics.

(Investigating Life in Extreme Environments - A European perspective, European Science Foundation, May 2007)

Editors and Affiliations

  • Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Centro de Biología Molecular del CSIC, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  • British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, United Kingdom

    Cynan Ellis-Evans

  • Institute of Physiology, Medical University, Graz, Austria

    Helmut Hinghofer-Szalkay

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access