An organism that grows best at temperatures close to freezing.
Example sentencesExamples
Hoover initially went to the CRREL tunnel in search of ‘psychrophiles’ - organisms that live only at extremely low temperatures.
Psychrophilic enzymes are present in psychrophiles, organisms that have adapted to very cold climates, such as those microorganisms living in the Artic and Antarctic regions.
Bacteria growing at low temperature are generally grouped into two categories, psychrotrophs and psychrophiles, both having the ability to grow at zero and subzero temperatures.
Derivatives
psychrophilic
adjective
Biology
Meanwhile, Earth-dwelling extremophile microorganisms, both thermophilic (heat-loving) and psychrophilic (cold-loving), are variously adapted to temperatures that would fry us or freeze us.
Example sentencesExamples
In a refrigerator these organisms are repressed; instead, psychrophilic bacteria attack the milk protein and turn the milk alkaline and smelly.
For psychrophilic fungi this can be achieved by reducing the air humidity and by preventing the formation of a water film on the canopy by using internal air circulation, heating or ventilation.