Reviews on Ancient Halophilic Microbes in Halite Fluid in Clusions

Fluid inclusions trapped in ancient evaporites can contain a community of halophilic prokaryotes and eukaryotes that inhabited the surface brines from which the minerals formed. Entombed in the fluid inclusions in evaporites, some of these halophilic microbes remain viable for at least tens of thousands of years and possibly for hundreds of millions of years, even under high salinity, low oxygen, high radiation, low nutrient concentration. This review presents the scientific history of discovery, isolation, and culture of ancient halophilic microbes in halite fluid inclusions. We elucidated the controversy associated with the ancient halophilic microbes between geologists and geomicrobiologists. Major concerns and future perspectives on halophiles research were proposed. We emphasized that lithofacies analysis and depositional environment determination on evaporites are prerequisites before any microbiological survey, and rigorous biological protocol must be obeyed at all retrieval procedures for ancient microorganisms. We suggested that future study related to ancient halophilic microbes should focus on other evaporites such as gypsum, glauberite, and trona, characterize and identify older halophiles; clarify metabolic mechanism for longevity of ancient microorganisms.