Table 1.

Extremophile microorganisms and their environments (adapted from Horikoshi and Bull [17]).

Extremophile Microorganism	Favorable Environment to Growth
Acidophile	Optimum pH for growth—Below 3
Alkaliphile	Optimum pH for growth—Above 10
Halophile	Requires at least 1M salt for growth
Hyperthermophile	Optimum growth at temperatures above 80 °C
Thermophile	Grows at temperatures between 60 °C and 85 °C
Eurypsychrophile (psychrotolerant)	Grows at temperatures above 25 °C, but also grow bellow 15 °C
Stenopsychrophile (psychrophile)	Grows at temperatures between 10 °C and 20 °C
Piezophile	Grows under high pressure—Above 400 atm (40 MPa)
Endolithic	Grows inside rocks
Hipolith	Grows on rocks and cold deserts
Oligotroph	Able to grow in environments of scarce nutrients
Radioresistant	Tolerance to high doses of radiation
Metallotolerant	Tolerance to high levels of heavy metals
Toxitolerant	Tolerates high concentrations of toxic agents (eg. Organic solvents)
Xerophile	Grows in low water availability, resistant to desiccation