Extremotroph
An extremotroph (from Latin extremus meaning "extreme" and Greek troph (τροφ) meaning "food") is an organism that feeds on matter that is not typically considered to be food to most life on Earth. "These anthropocentric definitions that we make of extremophily and extremotrophy focus on a single environmental extreme but many extremophiles may fall into multiple categories, for example, organisms living inside hot rocks deep under the Earth's surface."[1]
Examples
- Pestalotiopsis microspora: plastic eater
- Halomonas titanicae: metal eater[2]
- Geotrichum candidum: compact disk eater[3]
- Aspergillus fumigatus: printed circuit board eater[4]
- Deinococcus radiodurans: radioactive waste eater
Industrial uses
Extremotrophs are used as bioremediation and biodegradation agents.
See also
References
- ↑ Horikoshi, Koki (2010) Extremophiles Handbook, pg. 5
- ↑ New Bacteria Found on Titanic; Eats Metal
- ↑ Fungus eats CD : Nature News
- ↑ Kirksey, Kirk (2005) Computer Factoids: Tales from the High-Tech Underbelly, pg. 74
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