A wide array of microorganisms, including many novel, phylogenetically deeply rooted taxa,
survive and thrive in extreme environments. These unique and reduced-complexity …

Extreme marine environments have been the subject of many studies and scientific
publications. For many years, these environmental niches, which are characterized by high …

Soda lakes are salt lakes with a naturally alkaline pH due to evaporative concentration of
sodium carbonates in the absence of major divalent cations. Hypersaline soda brines harbor …

Highlights•Metagenomics permitted a better knowledge of the microbial diversity of
hypersaline habitats.•Cellular life in hypersaline habitats is dominated by prokaryotes …

Use of culture-independent studies have greatly increased our understanding of the
microbiology of hypersaline lakes (the Dead Sea, Great Salt Lake) and saltern ponds in …

Highlights•We detail how the application of metagenomics has changed research in extreme
environments.•We focus on microbial functionality under environmental extremes.•We …

Background Microbial adaptation to salinity has been a classic inquiry in the field of
microbiology. It has been demonstrated that microorganisms can endure salinity stress via …

Multi-pond salterns constitute an excellent model for the study of the microbial diversity and
ecology of hypersaline environments, showing a wide range of salt concentrations, from …

The organisms on Earth always live in a multidimensional chemical and physical niche
space. Many discoveries in the last century have tremendously expanded the range of …

Exploring functional gene composition is essential for understanding the biogeochemical
functions of lakes. However, little is known about the diversity and composition of …