There are microorganisms that are able to live in extreme environments under adverse conditions of pH, temperature and salinity. These microorganisms are classified as extremophiles. Within the group of extremophiles there are halophilic bacteria, which are those capable of living in extremely saline environments.
One biological factor that all living things are subject to suffer from is osmotic pressure. Halophilic microorganisms have developed mechanisms to adapt to saline environments where osmotic pressure acts with great intensity on individuals. These bacteria change the chemical composition of their membranes and also accumulate osmoprotective compounds in their cytoplasm to compensate for osmotic stress.
RAMIREZ, N; SANDOVAL, AH y SERRANO, JA. Las bacterias halófilas y sus aplicaciones biotecnológicas. Rev. Soc. Ven. Microbiol. [online]. 2004, vol.24, n.1-2 [citado 2019-09-22], pp. 12-23 . Disponible en: <http://ve.scielo.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1315-25562004000100004&lng=es&nrm=iso>. ISSN 1315-2556.
