Acidophilia (ecology)

Acidophilia (from Latin acidus = sour and ancient Greek φίλος philos = friend) is the property of organisms to prefer an environment with a low pH value or to presuppose it as absolutely vital. The optimum pH of growth and reproduction is rated as a decisive criterion. Living things with this property are called acidophilic .

Acidophilia has to be distinguished from acid tolerance . Organisms that can live in an environment with low pH values, even if they do not prefer it, are called acidotolerant. The pH optimum of their growth is therefore higher.

The opposite of acidophilia is acidophobia .

Examples

Acidophilic organisms can be found in volcanic soils such as B. the Archaeon Sulfolobus with a pH optimum of 2 to 3. Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans lives in extremely acidic habitats with a pH of 1, such as waste water from industrial metal extraction . Fungi usually grow in slightly acidic conditions around pH 5.

Technical importance

In biotechnology , acidophilic microorganisms such as B. lactic acid bacteria and acetic acid bacteria are used for the production of organic acids and food, furthermore for the preservation of food and feed and for the extraction of ores by leaching .

literature

• Lexicon of Biology. 1. Volume, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg, 2004. ISBN 3-8274-0326-X
• Townsend, CR; Harper, JL & Begon, ME: Ecology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2003. ISBN 3-540-00674-5