Radiation Resistant Microorganisms

nbsp;Starting from its formation as a cosmic particle, the earth is exposed to various types of radiation. With gradual cooling and environmental modifications, it started supporting life, first in the form of viruses and bacteria. So, radiation-resistant microorganisms are thought to be among the Earth’s ancient life forms. But, however, it is relatively an unexplored arena of research today. Though the members are few, radiation-resistant bacteria belong to a phylogenetically diverse community and their degree of withstanding the dose of radiation is also diverse. In most of the cases, the resistance mechanism involved survival from DNA damage and protein oxidation. In this chapter, we will discuss the diversity of radiation-resistant bacteria explored so far with their generalized mechanisms of resistance, along with the basic concept of radiation and radiation-induced damages. nbsp;