Piezophiles are a sort of extremophilic organisms that nurture and survive
under extreme hydrostatic pressures up to 10 MPa (1450 psi = 99 atm). The diversity of
piezophilic organisms can be studied by swotting deep-sea environments that are
inhabited by diverse piezophiles from all three domains of life. Information about the
physiology and adaptive mechanisms of piezophiles have been obtained by the process
of collection and culturing of deep-sea microorganisms. The corporeal adaptations are
an absolute requisite for growth under high hydrostatic pressure in these deep-sea
environments. Piezophiles possess homeoviscous adaption of lipids and fatty acids
which varies with variation in the hydrostatic pressure. However, they contain
docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (22:6n-3), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and
phosphatidylglycerol (PG) as major components, which help to acclimatize such an
extreme environment. The ability of piezophiles to tolerate ultra-high pressure, extreme
conditions, like low and high temperatures (2 °C– 100 °C) offers numerous
applications as discussed in this chapter. This chapter mainly presents piezophilic
microorganisms, including their diverse groups, their ability to raise and endure in
deep-sea environments with their molecular approaches and their several applications.
Keywords: Application of piezophiles, Barophiles, Diversity of piezophiles, Deep-sea, Extremophiles, High pressure, Piezophiles, Piezophilic organisms, Pressure adaption.
