Ecology of Moderately Halophilic Bacteria

The study of moderate halophile ecology is less the study of morphological identification and enumeration of specific types than it is the evaluation of the activity of those bacteria, possibly functioning a more or less cooperative or synergistic manner in the saline environments. Enhanced knowledge of the predominant groups, isolated from these habitats, will allow us to better understand this rather complex and heterogeneous group of halophilic organisms. Moderately halophilic bacteria constitute a large group of organisms encompassing a great diversity of bacteria. The moderately halophilic bacteria, from the taxonomic point of view, constitute a very heterogeneous group of microorganisms which include species from different genera. Obligately anaerobic halophilic bacteria may also be quite numerous in extremely hypersaline ecosystems because of the low oxygen availability.