Cold Temperature Adaptation and Growth of Microorganisms

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Abstract
Most microorganisms must accommodate a variety of changing conditions and stresses in their environment in order to survive and multiply. Because of the impact of temperature on all reactions of the cell, adaptations to fluctuations in temperature are possibly the most common. Widespread in the environment and well-equipped for cold temperature growth, psychrophilic and psychrotrophic microorganisms may yet make numerous adjustments when faced with temperatures lower than optimum. Phospholipid and fatty acid alterations resulting in increased membrane fluidity at lower temperatures have been described for many cold tolerant microorganisms while others may make no similar adjustment. While the enzymes of cold growing bacteria have been less extensively studied than those of thermophilic bacteria, it appears that function at low temperature requires enzymes with flexible conformational structure, in order to compensate for lower reaction rates. In many organisms, including psychrophilic and psychrotrophic b...