Why do halo live in salty environments?
Many of the Halobacterium proteins cannot function in low-salt environments. Halo have such a high salt concentration within them that it becomes impossible for them to live in environments that lack salt because osmosis would lyse the cells. This is why they have to live in salty environments.
Why are they called Halobacterium? Are they a bacterium?
Halobacterium were named before they were fully understood. They were named because they were thought to be halophilic bacteria. Afterwards, it was discovered that they were not bacteria, but the name had already been established. Halobacteria are prokaryotic but have a different cell wall structure than bacteria.
So what are they?
Halobacterium are in the domain of Archea, a group of single-celled micro-organisms, and are therefore not bacteria. They can live in extreme environments. They have an aerobic metabolism and can be red or purple. The purple Halobacteria is caused by a light sensitive protein called bacteriarhodopsin, which uses sunlight to drive protons out of the cell, giving the cell energy. When the protons flow back into the cell, they are used in the production of ATP. Even though they are prokaryotic, Halobacteria act as a good model for eukaryotic processes, including DNA replication.
Can Halo make you sick?
No. There are two ways that humans get sick. Either a foreign object takes over cells and uses them to replicate itself or toxins are released and attack the body Halobacterium does neither of these two things, and cannot, therefore, make you sick. Also, Halobacterium live in very salty environments, so they could not survive in the human body.
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