极端微生物及其应用研究进展

Extremophiles and their applications

极端微生物是指在高/低温、高/低p H、高盐、高压等极端环境条件下生存的微生物.特殊的生存条件导致其具有特殊的遗传背景和代谢途径,并可产生功能特殊的酶类和活性物质.随着系统生物学和合成生物学技术的发展,极端微生物作为一类特殊的微生物群体,在生物医疗、生物能源和生物材料等领域具有巨大的应用潜力.极端微生物相关研究也对生命起源与演化、生物工程技术等领域的发展具有重大意义.本文对极端环境及极端微生物的概念和分类进行了回顾,综述了极端微生物在不同环境条件下的适应机制及其酶的应用,并介绍了合成生物学在极端微生物研究中的应用情况.此外,由于极端微生物和极端酶的特殊性和高效性,本文还探讨了极端微生物开发过程中的挑战,以及其在航空航天与国防安全领域的综合应用潜力,并指出了相关研究的必要性.

Extremophiles are a group of organisms that thrive under extreme environmental conditions(e.g.,high/low temperature,p H,salinity,and pressure)in which most life forms find difficulty to survive.Special living conditions lead to their special genetic background and metabolic pathways,and they can produce special enzymes(extremozymes)and active ingredients(extremolytes).As a special microbial community,extremophiles have great potential in biomedicine,bioenergy,biomaterials and other fields.The study of extremophiles is not only related to the origin and evolution of life,but also significant to the development of biotechnology and other fields.This review summarizes the concept of extreme environment and extremophiles,and the potential application of extremophiles and extremozymes in the medical,biorefinery and other fields.In addition,the adaptation mechanism of extremophiles under various conditions and the application of synthetic biology in extremophiles are also introduced.Furthermore,this review explores the challenges in the development of extremophiles and the comprehensive application potential of extremophiles and extremozymes in space and national defense,which is partly due to their specificity and efficiency,and points out the necessity for accelerating extremophile research.