Table 1 Doubling times for halophilic Archaea and Bacteria in media supplemented with NaCl (or NaCl plus other solutes) to give a range of water-activity values (see Supplementary Table S4)a

From: Is there a common water-activity limit for the three domains of life?

Species of halophile (strain designationb)

Source of isolate

Water activity of medium c

  

0.803

0.775

0.717

0.712

0.709

0.693

0.687

0.681

0.642

Bacteria

Pontibacillus (strain AS2)d

Deep-sea sedimente

ND

<7 Days

NG

NG

ND

NG

NG

NG

NG

Salinicola (strain LC26)f

Deep seag

ND

<7 Days

NG

NG

ND

NG

NG

NG

NG

Archaea

Halobacterium noricense (DSM 15987)

Permian rock salth

<7 Days

ND

14 Days

NG

ND

NG

14 Days

NG

NG

Halobacterium sp. NRC-1

Not documented

<7 Days

ND

21 Days

NG

ND

NG

NG

NG

NG

Halococcus morrhuae (NCIMB 787)

The Dead Seai

<7 Days

ND

21 Days

NG

ND

NG

NG

NG

NG

Halococcus salifodinae (DSM 13046)

Halite depositj

<7 Days

ND

21 Days

NG

ND

21 Days

NG

NG

NG

Haloquadratum walsbyi (DSM 16790)

Salternk

ND

ND

ND

ND

<7 Daysl

ND

ND

ND

ND

Halorubrum sacchar ovorum (NCIMB 2081)

Salternm

<7 Days

ND

NG

NG

ND

NG

NG

NG

NG

Natrinema pallidum (NCIMB 777)

Salted cod

<7 Days

ND

NG

NG

ND

NG

NG

14 Days

NG

  1. Abbreviations: ND, not determined; NG, no measurable growth occurred.
  2. aLiquid nutrient media were supplemented with NaCl, NaCl plus MgCl2 or NaCl plus MgCl2 plus glycerol or ethylene glycol; for details of medium compositions see Supplementary Table S4. Incubations were carried out at 20 °C for Pontibacillus strain AS2 and Salinicola strain LC26 and at 37 °C for all other species. Assessments of cell density were carried out over a period of three months (see Materials and methods).
  3. bFor the source of cultures see Supplementary Materials and Methods .
  4. cWater-activity values were determined for each medium at the relevant incubation temperature and as described in the Materials and methods. For details of medium composition see Supplementary Table S4.
  5. dFormerly known as Bacillus strain AS2 (see Sass et al., 2008).
  6. eSediment (upper 2 cm) beneath a NaCl-dominated, hypersaline brine lake in the L’Atalante Basin, Mediterranean Sea (Sass et al., 2008).
  7. fFormerly known as Halomonas strain LC26 (see Daffonchio et al., 2006).
  8. gBrine lake/seawater interface of NaCl-dominated, hypersaline brine lake in the Bannock Basin, Mediterranean Sea (Sass et al., 2008).
  9. hHalite obtained from 470-m-deep bore cores into a salt mine at Altaussee, Austria (Gruber et al., 2004).
  10. iIsrael (Tindall, 1992); Halococcus morrhuae was formerly known as Sarcina morrhuae (Kocur and Hodgkiss, 1973).
  11. jObtained via solution-mining of Triassic halite (Lostock, UK) in a saturated NaCl brine (Norton et al., 1993).
  12. kSalt-saturated crystalliser pond of a solar saltern in Braç del Port, Alicante, Spain (Bolhuis et al., 2004).
  13. lGrowth data obtained from Bolhuis et al. (2004); medium water-activity determined as described in Materials and methods.
  14. mMixture of mud and brine in saltern, southern section of San Francisco Bay, California, USA (Tomlinson and Hochstein, 1976).