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Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Adaptation at the Extremes of Life: Experimental Evolution with the Extremophile Archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius
Published on: June 14, 2024
Adaptation to extreme environments: macromolecular dynamics in bacteria compared in vivo by neutron scattering
Moeava Tehei1, Bruno Franzetti, Dominique Madern
1Institut de Biologie Structurale, CEA-CNRS-UJF, IBS, 41 rue Jules Horowitz, 38027 Grenoble Cedex 1, France.
Abstract:
Mean macromolecular dynamics was quantified in vivo by neutron scattering in psychrophile, mesophile, thermophile and hyperthermophile bacteria. Root mean square atomic fluctuation amplitudes determining macromolecular flexibility were found to be similar for each organism at its physiological temperature ( approximately 1 A in the 0.1 ns timescale). Effective force constants determining the mean macromolecular resilience were found to increase with physiological temperature from 0.2 N/m for the psychrophiles, which grow at 4 degrees C, to 0.6 N/m for the hyperthermophiles (85 degrees C), indicating that the increase in stabilization free energy is dominated by enthalpic rather than entropic terms. Larger resilience allows macromolecular stability at high temperatures, while maintaining flexibility within acceptable limits for biological activity.
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