Approaches toward the study of Halophilic microorganisms in their natural environments: Who are they and what are they doing?

Hypersaline lakes with salt concentrations exceeding 250 g/l are often characterized by very dense communities of halophilic Halophilic microorganisms imparting a red coloration to the brines. Such red waters can be found in the North Arm of Great Salt Lake Great Salt Lake, Utah, in crystallizer ponds of solar salterns Salterns for the production of salt from seawater, and in many extremely hypersaline alkaline lakes. At times even the magnesium chloride-rich waters of the Dead Sea Dead Sea have become red as a result of massive development of pigmented salt-loving microorganisms.