Isolation and Characterization of Psychrophilic Purple Bacteria From Antarctica

Abstract

Several anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria (“anoxyphototrophs”) have been isolated and characterized from extreme environments. These include organisms from thermal [1], hypersaline [2-6], acidic [7,8], and alkaline [2,5,6] environments. In the author’s laboratory, thermophilic species of purple and green sulfur bacteria, Chromatium tepidum [9,10] and Chlorobium tepidum [11], respectively, and of heliobacteria, Heliobacterium modesticaldum [12], have been described; all of these organisms are capable of growth above 50°C. In addition, a variety of thermotolerant nonsulfur purple bacteria have been characterized, although none of these show growth above 50°C [13-15].