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Acidophilic Microbes: Biology and Applications

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Biotechnology of Extremophiles:

Part of the book series: Grand Challenges in Biology and Biotechnology ((GCBB,volume 1))

Abstract

Acidophilic microorganisms are an ecologically and economically important group, which occur in acidic natural (solfataric fields, sulphuric pools) and man-made (eg. Acid mine drainage) environments. Acidophiles possess networked cellular adaptations for regulating intracellular pH. Several extracellular enzymes from acidophilic microbes are known to be functional at much lower pH than that inside the cells. Acid stable enzymes have applications in several industries such as starch, baking, fruit juice processing, animal feed and pharmaceuticals, and some of them have already been commercialized. Acidophiles are widely used in bioleaching of metals from low grade ores. This review focuses on the biology of acidophiles, acidstable enzymes and their potential applications, utility of acidophiles in bioconversion and bioremediation, and in microbial fuel cells to generate electricity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biophysics, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Archana Sharma

  2. Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi, South Campus, Benito Juarez Road, New Delhi, 110021, India

    Deepak Parashar & Tulasi Satyanarayana

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  1. Archana Sharma
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  2. Deepak Parashar
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  3. Tulasi Satyanarayana
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Correspondence to Tulasi Satyanarayana .

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  1. Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Saint Barthélemy

    Pabulo H Rampelotto

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Archana Sharma, Deepak Parashar, and Tulasi Satyanarayana declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Sharma, A., Parashar, D., Satyanarayana, T. (2016). Acidophilic Microbes: Biology and Applications. In: Rampelotto, P. (eds) Biotechnology of Extremophiles:. Grand Challenges in Biology and Biotechnology, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13521-2_7

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