Journal
NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN
Volume 94, Issue 2, Pages 77-99Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00114-006-0162-6
Keywords
cryoprotectants; cold adaptation; freeze tolerance; supercooling; proteins; membranes; antioxidant defenses; gene expression
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Microorganisms, plants, and animals have successfully colonized cold environments, which represent the majority of the biosphere on Earth. They have evolved special mechanisms to overcome the life-endangering influence of low temperature and to survive freezing. Cold adaptation includes a complex range of structural and functional adaptations at the level of all cellular constituents, such as membranes, proteins, metabolic activity, and mechanisms to avoid the destructive effect of intracellular ice formation. These strategies offer multiple biotechnological applications of cold-adapted organisms and/or their products in various fields. In this review, we describe the mechanisms of microorganisms, plants, and animals to cope with the cold and the resulting biotechnological perspectives.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available