Xerophiles. Hannah Oviya, Meha Pandejee, Kayla Scher and Shakthi Rave

Transcription

1 Xerophiles Hannah Oviya, Meha Pandejee, Kayla Scher and Shakthi Rave

2 Definition of Xerophiles -Comes from the Greek words xero meaning dry and the word philos meaning loving -These organisms can reproduce and survive with low of water availability. -Xerophiles are organisms that can thrive without water and are able to withstand very dry temperatures.

3 Extremophile Description -The most successful xerophilic organisms are fungi. -Xerophiles can cause spoilage of food and feed: stored commodities, sugary products and salted foods. An example of Choloroflexus aurantiacus

4 Extremophile Description The common food preservation method of reducing water activities will not prevent the growth in xerophiles. They in fact, have evolved in a way that even the little amounts of water they encounter is conserved so that it can be used when needed.

5 Extremophile Description -Xerophiles can cause spoilage of food and feed: stored commodities, sugary products and salted foods -Some xerophiles are isolated from both high salt and high sugar environments; others have a preference for either salt or sugar -Membrane composition plays an important role in retaining glycerol within the cells of xerophiles. **In other words they are capable of growth at or below a water activity of 0.85.

6 Location On Earth, xerophiles are found commonly in dry areas such as dry fruits, salted meats, and old foods such as jam and nuts. They are also found in many deserts because of the low moisture and dryness, like the Atacama Desert in Chile. One of the most popular kinds of xerophiles in the desert are cacti. Xerophiles can also be found in the dry valleys of Antartica which have almost no water.

7 Location It is possible that xerophiles could be living on planets Mercury and Mars Both planets have an atmosphere containing little amounts of oxygen, little amounts of water and have dry environments. Mercury, especially, has the extremely hot and dry environments needed for xerophiles to thrive.

8 Comparison to Humans Xerophiles can reproduce in environments with low water availability while humans cannot. They cannot survive in places with extremely high levels of ph or places with highly basic substances.

9 Comparison to Humans Humans Xerophiles Cannot survive in the heat for more than 3 days without water. Need at least 13.2 gallons of water in your body to survive. Humans can survive in ph levels of 7-8. Part of the Animal Kingdom Can survive with low availability of water Same Living organisms Can survive with only 0.85 water activity. Cannot survive in ph levels above 5. Part of the Fungi or Plant Kingdom Have a system to survive

10 And the credits go to com/extremophiles/xerophiles_12may06.html

11 THANK YOU!!! -We appreciate the audience s attention and thank you for the opportunity to present this powerpoint! -We had so much fun researching about Xerophiles and creating this Powerpoint!