thermophilthermophileadj.n.

1896 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. I. 513 There is a class of microbes which refuse to grow at any temperature below 50° C.; such organisms are called ‘thermophile’.

1909 H. W. Conn Agric. Bacteriol. (ed. 2) i. 16 A few species..grow best at unexpectedly high temperatures, some having been found flourishing at 140° or even higher. These peculiar bacteria are called thermophiles.

1964 Cooney & Emerson Thermophilic Fungi i. 6 To the algologist a thermophile may have a maximum between 60° and 80°C..to the bacteriologist..55° to 80°C, and the acarologist 35° to 45°C.

1981 New Scientist 10 Sept. 667/2 The plasmid may be of value..for transferring genes into thermophiles (bacteria that like high temperatures).

1894 Macfadyen & Blaxall in Jrnl. Pathol. & Bacteriol. 3 88 To those organisms that grow best at very high temperatures we have applied the name of thermophilic bacteria.

1900 Nature 22 Feb. 388/2 Thermophilic bacteria..are specially important as regards the fermentation in ensilage and the digestion of cellulose.

1977 Time 26 Dec. 20/3 Their droppings will be placed into fermenter tanks filled with thermophilic (heat-loving) bacteria.

1899 Nature 15 June 147/1 Facts regarding the existence of thermophilous organisms.

1965 P. Bell & D. Coombe tr. Strasburger's Textbk. Bot. (new ed.) iii. 774 The wood and fruits of thermophilous trees and shrubs have been repeatedly found some hundreds of metres above their present altitudinal limits.

1975 J. G. Evans Environment Early Man Brit. Isles ii. 49 The Allerød Interstadial..was the first zone to see the appearance of thermophilous land snails.