Abstract
Microorganisms that live in hypersaline environments need to maintain a high osmotic pressure in their cytoplasm to balance the osmotic pressure caused by the high salt concentrations. Most halophilic and halotolerant eubacteria and eukaryotic protists exclude salt, and synthesize or accumulate high concentrations of organic solutes that do not interfere with intracellular enzymatic activities (“osmotic solutes” or “compatible solutes”).
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© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Oren, A., Fischel, U., Aizenshtat, Z., Krein, E.B., Reed, R.H. (1994). Osmotic adaptation of microbial communities in hypersaline microbial mats. In: Stal, L.J., Caumette, P. (eds) Microbial Mats. NATO ASI Series, vol 35. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78991-5_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78991-5_14
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