PART 1: OPENING CHAPTERS
Introduction; J. Seckbach et al.
Foreword; R.W. Castenholz
Preface; K. Horikoshi
List of Authors and Their Addresses
PART 2: GENERAL ASPECTS
Polyextremophiles and the Constraints for Terrestrial Habitability; M.C. Capece et al.
Life on the Edge and Astrobiology: Who Is Who in the Polyextremophiles World; J. Seckbach
The Dynamic Genomes of Acidophiles; F. J. López de Saro et al.
PART 3: HALOPHILES
Two Centuries of Microbiological Research in the Wadi Natrun, Egypt: A Model System for the Study of the Ecology, Physiology, and Taxonomy of Haloalkaliphilic Microorganisms; A. Oren
Adaptation in Haloalkaliphiles and Natronophilic Bacteria; H.L. Banciu and D.Y. Sorokin
A Random Biogeochemical Walk into Three Soda Lakes of the Western USA: With an Introduction to a Few of their Microbial Denizens; R.S. Oremland
Halophilic, Acidophilic, and Haloacidophilic Prokaryotes; H. Minegishi
Life in Magnesium- and Calcium-Rich Hypersaline Environments: Salt Stress by Chaotropic Ions; A. Oren
Survival Strategies of Halophilic Oligotrophic and Desiccation Resistant Prokaryotes; H. Stan-Lotter and S. Fendrihan
Radiation Resistance in Extremophiles: Fending Off Multiple Attacks; K.M. Webb and J. DiRuggiero
PART 4: THERMOPHILES
Thermoalkaliphilic Microbes; V. Kumar and T. Satyanarayana
Acido- and Thermophilic Microorganisms, Their Features and Identification of Novel Enzymes or Pathways; Y. Kawarabayasi
Microbial Diversity in Acidic High Temperature Steam Vents; R.L. Weiss Bizzoco and S.T. Kelley
PART 5: PSYCHROPHILES
Left Out in the Cold: Life in Cryoenvironments; J. Goordial et al.
Microbial Diversity and Enzymes in Ikaite Columns; A Cold and Alkaline Environment in Greenland; J.K. Vester et al.
Microbial Communities Thriving in Various Ice Ecosystems; B. Sattler and B. Post
Snow Algae. Adaptation Strategies to Survive on Snow and Ice; T. Leya
Adaptation of Antarctic Freshwater Green Algae to the Extreme Environments; H. Hu
PART 6: PRESSURE
Deep Sub-Surface Oil Reservoirs as Poly-Extreme Habitats for Microbial Life. A Current Review; A. Wentzel et al.
Expanding Limits for Life to a New Dimension: Microbial Growth at Hypergravity; S. Deguchi and K. Horikoshi
PART 7: OXYGEN RELATIONSHIPS
Microbial Eukaryotes in Marine Oxygen Minimum Zones; W.D. Orsi and V.P. Edgcomb
Deep Hypersaline Anoxic Basins as Model Systems for Environmental Selection of Microbial Plankton; A. Stock et al.
Microbial Eukaryotes in Hypersaline Anoxic Deep Sea Basins; V.P. Edgcomb and W.D. Orsi
Life at High Salt and Low Oxygen: How Do the Halobacteriaceae Cope with Low Oxygen Concentrations in their Environment?; A. Oren
PART 8: SELECTED ORGANISMS
Niches and Adaptations of Polyextremotolerant Black Fungi; M. Grube et al.
Polyextremophilic Photoautotrophic Eukaryotic Algae; W. Reisser
Extremophilic Magnetotactic Bacteria; C.T. Lefèvre and D. A. Bazylinski
Multicellular Extremophiles - The Case of the Tardigrades; D. Schulze-Makuch and J. Seckbach
PART 9: FINAL COMMENTS
Polyextremophiles - Summary and Conclusions; J. Chela Flores
Erratum
Organism Index
Subject Index
Author Index