Halophiles and Their Biomolecules: Recent Advances and Future Applications in Biomedicine

Abstract

The organisms thriving under extreme conditions better than any other organism living on Earth, fascinate by their hostile growing parameters, physiological features, and their production of valuable bioactive metabolites. This is the case of microorganisms (bacteria, archaea, and fungi) that grow optimally at high salinities and are able to produce biomolecules of pharmaceutical interest for therapeutic applications. As along as the microbiota is being approached by massive sequencing, novel insights are revealing the environmental conditions on which the compounds are produced in the microbial community without more stress than sharing the same substratum with their peers, the salt. In this review are reported the molecules described and produced by halophilic microorganisms with a spectrum of action in vitro: antimicrobial and anticancer. The action mechanisms of these molecules, the urgent need to introduce alternative lead compounds and the current aspects on the exploitation and its limitations are discussed.

Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, and Bioactive Potential of Two New Haloarchaeal Strains Isolated from Odiel Salterns (Southwest Spain)

“…The tolerance of these enzymes to elevated saline concentrations and temperatures, the high antioxidant power and therapeutic potential of haloarchaeal carotenoids or the good jellifying properties and thermal stability of the exopolysacharides secreted by many archaea make these metabolites highly appreciated for numerous biotechnological applications, including biomedical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, environmental or industrial purposes [ 3 , 4 ]. Furthermore, considering that only a small part of the existing archaeal species has been discovered and studied, it is expected that many other metabolites with unexplored bioactivities can be obtained from this extraordinary group of microorganisms, as pointed in recent reviews [ 5 ].…”

The Antibacterial Activity of Aqueous and Ethanolic Leaf Extracts of Balanites aegyptiaca (l.) Del Plant on Some Selected Clinical Human Pathogens

“…This is exacerbated by the inadequacy and inequitably provided health care, as well as human behavior. This implies an increase in morbidity in the healthy population and an imminent risk for hospitalized patients and the immunocompromised [2]. In the pharmaceutical industry, past and current strategies to combat resistance have not been very effective, coupled with the existing short life expectancies of antibiotics [3].…”

Extremophilic Microorganisms for the Treatment of Toxic Pollutants in the Environment

“…The first is to use a “salt-in” strategy that refers to the accumulation of inorganic osmoprotectants such as KCl inside the cell to maintain the osmotic balance both inside and outside the cell [ 37 ]. It has been demonstrated that Halobacterium salinarum can accumulate 3.97 M and 4.57 M of K + and Cl − ions, respectively, inside the cell using the ATP-dependent K + transport system (the KdpFABC complex and cationic amino acid transporter-3 (Cat3) and Na + efflux antiporters (NhaC) to balance the osmotic gradient under high-salt conditions [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. Moreover, halophilic microorganisms have evolved an abundance of negatively charged aspartate and glutamate residues on protein surfaces that can interact with water molecules to form a water cage that prevents protein precipitation and dehydration [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ].…”