Extremophiles Where It All Began
Koki Horikoshi — discoverer of the alkaliphiles, microbes that thrive in alkaline environments — describes in his autobiography how the research on extremophiles started and developed. He is a pioneer in the study of these microorganisms that th
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Extremophiles Where It All Began
Extremophiles
Koki Horikoshi
Extremophiles Where It All Began
Koki Horikoshi Extremobiosphere Research Center Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
ISBN 978-4-431-55407-3 ISBN 978-4-431-55408-0 DOI 10.1007/978-4-431-55408-0
(eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016933121 Springer Tokyo Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © Springer Japan 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer Japan KK is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
To my wife, Sachiko
Preface
Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions. Imagination is more important than knowledge. (Albert Einstein)
Recently, I had the chance to see one of the largest exhibitions of Claude Monet’s most famous series of paintings in London. As Kenneth Clark explains in his famous book Civilization, Monet attempted a kind of colour symbolism to express the changing effects of light. For example, he painted a series of cathedral facades in different lights—pink, blue, and yellow—which seem to me too far from my own experience. The colours of these objects depend on the physical environment, such as sunlight, snow, the time of the day, and the season. Under different conditions, one object may show quite different properties. Who can be sure what is the absolute property? The biological world may have the same uncertainty. In 1956, I encountered an alkaliphilic bacterium – although not alkaliphilic in the true sense of the word. I was a graduate student in the Department of Agricultural Chemistry, the University of Tokyo, working under the direction of Professor Kinichiro Sakaguchi. Autolysis of Aspergillus oryzae was the research theme for my doctoral thesis. The reason Professor Sakaguchi asked me to study the autolysis of Asp. oryzae was a practical one. He thought the flavour and taste of Japanese sake came from an autolysate o
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