2) What gene products

Haloarchaea are so adapted to high-salt environments that they cannot survive in low-salt conditions. There are 6 different haloarchaeal genomes that have been sequenced, which would allow us to compare genetic systems.

Haloarchaea balance a high-salt environment by having at least an equally high intracellular salt concentration usually of KCl. Due to changes in weather and other environmental conditions, haloarchaea must be osmoadaptive over a larger range of salt concentrations. (Soppa 2006) Halophilic proteins are adapted to high-salt by having more acidic residues than basic residues, or a high concentration of negative charges on the outside of the folded protein in order to attract hydrated cations. (See an abstract about the biochemistry of this) The cell membrane is also charged with acidic lipids to maintain structure.