Question

Describe one example of an organism that lives in an extreme environment (know as extremophiles). What kind of environment does it live in? How does it maintain gradients across its cell membrane? What molecules does it use for energy production? What are some similarities and differences between its metabolic pathways and ours? (4 points)

Answer 1

Answer=

Example of extremophiles is :Extremophiles are further divided into into different classes:

Psychrophile -example- Antarctic Krill = is a species of krill found in the Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean.it is a small,swimming crustacean that lives in large swarms.

it feeds directly on minute phytoplankton ,thereby using the primary production energy.

It grows to a length of 6 cm ,weighs up to 2 grams & can live for up to six years.

kind of environment in that it lives : They thrive in extremely low temperatures of 5 degrees or lower.

They can be found in places like cold soils,permafrost,polar ice,cold ocean water and alpine snow packs.

it maintain gradients across its cell membrane ,psychrophiles are able to produce proteins that are functional in cold temperatures ,and contain large amounts of unsaturated fatty acids in plasma membrane that help buffer the cells from the cold.Most notably ,however ,psychrophiles are able to replace the water in their bodies with sugar trehalose ,preventing the formation of harmful ice-crystals.