Bioactive Compounds from Extremophiles

Extremophiles are microorganisms that grow and survive in harsh environmental conditions (e.g., extreme temperature and pressure, variable pH, high salinity, radiation, toxic waste, and metal concentrations). Extremophilic microorganisms have developed diverse strategies in order to survive in harsh conditions and produced different types of bioactive molecules such as extremolytes, extremozymes, and cryoprotectant. These biomolecules possess extraordinary properties such as salt tolerance, thermostability, and pH adaptivity and represent unique attributes under unembellished conditions, which can be compared to existing industrial procedures. These bioactive molecules have great potential for application in various biotechnological processes including agriculture, pharmaceutical, and food industries. In recent years, due to innovative molecular biology tools, genomics, bioinformatics, data mining, and culturing approaches have given unique prospects to explore novel biomolecules of extremophiles. So, this chapter discusses the sources, properties, extraction techniques, and varieties of bioactive compounds from different extremophiles and their different industrial applications for human welfare.