What does psychrophile mean?
Definitions for psychrophile
psy·chrophile
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word psychrophile.
Wiktionary
psychrophilenoun
An organism that can live and thrive at temperatures much lower than normal; a form of extremophile.
Wikipedia
Psychrophile
Psychrophiles or cryophiles (adj. psychrophilic or cryophilic) are extremophilic organisms that are capable of growth and reproduction in low temperatures, ranging from −20 °C (−4 °F) to 20 °C (68 °F). They have an optimal growth temperature at 15 °C (59 °F). They are found in places that are permanently cold, such as the polar regions and the deep sea. They can be contrasted with thermophiles, which are organisms that thrive at unusually high temperatures, and mesophiles at intermediate temperatures. Psychrophile is Greek for 'cold-loving', from Ancient Greek ψυχρός (psukhrós) 'cold, frozen'. Many such organisms are bacteria or archaea, but some eukaryotes such as lichens, snow algae, phytoplankton, fungi, and wingless midges, are also classified as psychrophiles.
Wikidata
Psychrophile
Psychrophiles or cryophiles are extremophilic organisms that are capable of growth and reproduction in cold temperatures, ranging from −15°C to +10°C. Temperatures as low as −15°C are found in pockets of very salty water surrounded by sea ice. They can be contrasted with thermophiles, which thrive at unusually hot temperatures. The environments they inhabit are ubiquitous on Earth, as a large fraction of our planetary surface experiences temperatures lower than 15°C. They are present in alpine and arctic soils, high-latitude and deep ocean waters, polar ice, glaciers, and snowfields. They are of particular interest to astrobiology, the field dedicated to the formulation of theory about the possibility of extraterrestrial life, and to geomicrobiology, the study of microbes active in geochemical processes. In experimental work at University of Alaska Fairbanks, a 1000 litre biogas digester using psychrophiles harvested from "mud from a frozen lake in Alaska" has produced 200–300 litres of methane per day, about 20–30% of the output from digesters in warmer climates. Psychrophiles use a wide variety of metabolic pathways, including photosynthesis, chemoautotrophy, and heterotrophy, and form robust, diverse communities. Most psychrophiles are bacteria or archaea, and psychrophily is present in widely diverse microbial lineages within those broad groups. Additionally, recent research has discovered novel groups of psychrophilic fungi living in oxygen-poor areas under alpine snowfields. A further group of eukaryotic cold-adapted organisms are snow algae, which can cause watermelon snow. Psychrophiles are characterized by lipid cell membranes chemically resistant to the stiffening caused by extreme cold, and often create protein 'antifreezes' to keep their internal space liquid and protect their DNA even in temperatures below water's freezing point.
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of psychrophile in Chaldean Numerology is: 6
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of psychrophile in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1
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"psychrophile." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/psychrophile>.
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