Cold Ecosystems Research Articles

Estimation of the Net Primary Productivity of Grasslands in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau Based on a Machine Learning Model and Sensitivity Analysis to Climate Change

This study applies the Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) and Random Forest (RF) models, utilizing remote sensing and ground-based net primary productivity (NPP) data from 1992 to 2020, along with meteorological data and soil properties, to model the NPP in the alpine grassland and alpine meadow ecosystems of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (TP) and assess their sensitivity to climate change. As a vital ecological barrier, the TP’s grassland ecosystems are critical for understanding the impacts of climate change. However, sensitivity analysis of the NPP in the TP grasslands has been limited, which this study aims to address by focusing on the effects of maximum temperature, solar radiation, and wind speed on the NPP. The results show that the MLP model outperforms the RF model in prediction accuracy (R2 = 0.98, RMSE = 16.24 g C·m−2·a−1, MAE = 9.04 g C·m−2·a−1). NPP responses to climate factors are diverse: linear with temperature and nonlinear with solar radiation and wind speed. Under multi-factor scenarios, the NPP in both alpine meadow and alpine grassland exhibit nonlinear trends, with a higher sensitivity to changes in all three factors than to single- or two-factor changes. Spatial distribution analysis revealed that the NPP in alpine meadows was more sensitive to climate change in the southern regions, while alpine grassland showed greater sensitivity in the central regions. This study, using machine learning models and sensitivity analysis, sheds light on the complex response of the NPP in the TP grasslands to climate change, offering valuable insights for carbon cycle research in cold ecosystems and regional climate adaptation management.

NDVI or PPI: A (Quick) Comparison for Vegetation Dynamics Monitoring in Mountainous Area

Cold ecosystems are experiencing a warming rate that is twice as fast as the global average and are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. In mountain ecosystems, it is particularly important to monitor vegetation to understand ecosystem dynamics, biodiversity conservation, and the resilience of these fragile ecosystems to global change. Hence, we used satellite data acquired by Sentinel-2 to perform a comparative assessment of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Plant Phenology Index (PPI) in mountainous regions (canton of Valais-Switzerland in the European Alps) for monitoring vegetation dynamics of four types: deciduous trees, coniferous trees, grasslands, and shrublands. Results indicate that the NDVI is particularly noisy in the seasonal cycle at the beginning/end of the snow season and for coniferous trees, which is consistent with its known snow sensitivity issue and difficulties in retrieving signal variation in dense and evergreen vegetation. The PPI seems to deal with these problems but tends to overestimate peak values, which could be attributed to its logarithmic formula and derived high sensitivity to variations in near-infrared (NIR) and red reflectance during the peak growing season. Concerning seasonal parameters retrieval, we find close concordance in the results for the start of season (SOS) and end of season (EOS) between indices, except for coniferous trees. Peak of season (POS) results exhibit important differences between the indices. Our findings suggest that PPI is a robust remote sensed index for vegetation monitoring in seasonal snow-covered and complex mountain environments.

Deformed wings in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris (Linnaeus, 1758) in Luxembourg

Deformed wing virus (DWV), a persistent pathogen in European honeybees contributing to colony losses, also affects wild bees, including bumblebees, and a wide range of other insects. Bumblebees play a crucial role in crop production in temperate and cold ecosystems. A case of wild buff-tailed bumblebee workers Bombus terrestris (Linnaeus, 1758) showing visible clinical symptoms associated with overt, acute DWV infection is documented in Luxembourg, the first report for this bumblebee species widely distributed in the country. Further investigation is needed in Luxembourg to understand the impact of infectious diseases on wild pollinators and the role of managed pollinators in pathogen spillover.

Detecting soil freeze-thaw dynamics with C-band SAR over permafrost in Northern Sweden and seasonally frozen grounds in the Tibetan Plateau, China

ABSTRACT The soil freeze-thaw (FT) state plays a significant role in cold ecosystems by influencing hydrology, geomorphology, ecology, thermodynamics, and soil chemistry. As climate change alters the frequency and timing of FT events, regions, such as the Tibetan Plateau and other subarctic permafrost zones, face significant environmental shifts, including land subsidence, altered hydrological processes, and carbon balance disturbances. This study aimed to detect frozen, thawed, and transition periods, with a particular emphasis on the identification of critical transition periods. A new approach called Percentile-based Freeze-Thaw Identification (PFTI) was applied to identify the three FT periodsusing C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, specifically using Sentinel-1 VV and VH polarizations in both ascending and descending orbits. The PFTI approach is based on the Seasonal Threshold Approach (STA) with some modifications. We assessed the performance of PFTI against STA and validated it using the in-situ soil FT index. PFTI slightly improved the STA by 4% to 6% in detecting FT cycles over the Nagqu area of the Tibetan Plateau and Stordalen Mire in northern Sweden from 2017 to 2022. Moreover, PFTI demonstrated an accuracy of 94% without and 70% with transition periods in the Stordalen Mire, and 77% without and 50% with transition periods in the Nagqu area, as validated by in situ measurements. This study demonstrates the potential of PFTI on a monthly scale for detecting frozen, thawed, and transition periods on a regional scale to better monitor shifts due to the impacts of climate change in the most vulnerable regions.

Invasion in cold: weather effects on winter activity of an alien mesopredator at its northern range

Whether an invasive species thrives in cold ecosystems depends on its response to winter weather. A potential threat to these ecosystems in Europe is the invasive raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides). The survival of this mesopredator is supported in cold weather, because it can periodically use winter sleep, but its winter activity levels compared to native mesopredators remain unclear. We investigated the winter behaviour of raccoon dogs in Finland, near the edge of their invasion front, and compared their activity to native red foxes and badgers. Using wildlife cameras, we found that raccoon dogs do reduce activity during the coldest months, but camera observations did not strongly correlate with temperature perhaps due to feeding at camera sites. That is, artificial food sources may have increased raccoon dogs’ winter activity. Nevertheless, they responded more clearly to temperature drops than red foxes, but were more active than badgers that were mostly dormant and thus absent from our data. GPS-tracked raccoon dogs remained at some level active through winter, even near subarctic regions, but the cold and snowy weather clearly decreased activity and individuals stayed close to their nests during the coldest periods. Overall, these findings suggest that raccoon dogs can maintain some winter activity even in extremely cold environments, and they readily exploit human-provided resources. This potential ability to thrive in cold regions highlights the invasive potential of raccoon dogs. As winters become milder due to climate change, their numbers could increase significantly within cold-adapted ecosystems, impacting native species and posing conservation challenges.

Cold-active microbial enzymes and their biotechnological applications.

Microorganisms known as psychrophiles/psychrotrophs, which survive in cold climates, constitute majority of the biosphere on Earth. Their capability to produce cold-active enzymes along with other distinguishing characteristics allows them to survive in the cold environments. Due to the relative ease of large-scale production compared to enzymes from plants and animals, commercial uses of microbial enzyme are alluring. The ocean depths, polar, and alpine regions, which make up over 85% of the planet, are inhabited to cold ecosystems. Microbes living in these regions are important for their metabolic contribution to the ecosphere as well as for their enzymes, which may have potential industrial applications. Cold-adapted microorganisms are a possible source of cold-active enzymes that have high catalytic efficacy at low and moderate temperatures at which homologous mesophilic enzymes are not active. Cold-active enzymes can be used in a variety of biotechnological processes, including food processing, additives in the detergent and food industries, textile industry, waste-water treatment, biopulping, environmental bioremediation in cold climates, biotransformation, and molecular biology applications with great potential for energy savings. Genetically manipulated strains that are suitable for producing a particular cold-active enzyme would be crucial in a variety of industrial and biotechnological applications. The potential advantage of cold-adapted enzymes will probably lead to a greater annual market than for thermo-stable enzymes in the near future. This review includes latest updates on various microbial source of cold-active enzymes and their biotechnological applications.

Structure of an ice-binding protein from myoxocephalus octodecemspinosus determined by molecular dynamics and based on circular dichroism spectra

One of the survival strategies evolved by the organisms living in cold ecosystems is production of ice-binding proteins. An important feature of these proteins is to bind to the surface of ice, keep the ice from growing and prevent cells from damage and death. To understand the mechanism underlying interaction between icebinding proteins and ice, it is necessary to know the structure of these extraordinary proteins. This study contributes towards information on the structural and dynamic mechanisms of ice-binding proteins that ensure the adaptation of organisms to extreme conditions. Research on the mechanisms by which ice-binding proteins develop adaptation to cold opens up great opportunities in solving a wide range of interesting problems in medicine, such as the development of effective cryoprotectants for cells and organs, as well as in the food industry, such as long-term food storage without losing nutritional quality at the consumer level.

Autochthonous psychrophilic hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria and its ecological function in contaminated cold environments.

Petroleum hydrocarbon (PH) pollution has mostly been caused by oil exploration, extraction, and transportation activities in colder regions, particularly in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, where it serves as a primary source of energy. Due to the resilience feature of nature, such polluted environments become the realized ecological niches for a wide community of psychrophilic hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria (PHcB). In contrast, to other psychrophilic species, PHcB is extremely cold-adapted and has unique characteristics that allow them to thrive in greater parts of the cold environment burdened with PHs. The stated group of bacteria in its ecological niche aids in the breakdown of litter, turnover of nutrients, cycling of carbon and nutrients, and bioremediation. Although such bacteria are the pioneers of harsh colder environments, their growth and distribution remain under the influence of various biotic and abiotic factors of the environment. The review discusses the prevalence of PHcB community in colder habitats, the metabolic processes involved in the biodegradation of PH, and the influence of biotic and abiotic stress factors. The existing understanding of the PH metabolism by PHcB offers confirmation of excellent enzymatic proficiency with high cold stability. The discovery of more flexible PH degrading strategies used by PHcB in colder environments could have a significant beneficial outcome on existing bioremediation technologies. Still, PHcB is least explored for other industrial and biotechnological applications as compared to non-PHcB psychrophiles. The present review highlights the pros and cons of the existing bioremediation technologies as well as the potential of different bioaugmentation processes for the effective removal of PH from the contaminated cold environment. Such research will not only serve to investigate the effects of pollution on the basic functional relationships that form the cold ecosystem but also to assess the efficacy of various remediation solutions for diverse settings and climatic conditions.

Microbial nitrogen and phosphorus co-limitation across permafrost region.

The status of plant and microbial nutrient limitation have profound impacts on ecosystem carbon cycle in permafrost areas, which store large amounts of carbon and experience pronounced climatic warming. Despite the long-term standing paradigm assumes that cold ecosystems primarily have nitrogen deficiency, large-scale empirical tests of microbial nutrient limitation are lacking. Here we assessed the potential microbial nutrient limitation across the Tibetan alpine permafrost region, using the combination of enzymatic and elemental stoichiometry, genes abundance and fertilization method. In contrast with the traditional view, the four independent approaches congruently detected widespread microbial nitrogen and phosphorus co-limitation in both the surface soil and deep permafrost deposits, with stronger limitation in the topsoil. Further analysis revealed that soil resources stoichiometry and microbial community composition were the two best predictors of the magnitude of microbial nutrient limitation. High ratio of available soil carbon to nutrient and low fungal/bacterial ratio corresponded to strong microbial nutrient limitation. These findings suggest that warming-induced enhancement in soil nutrient availability could stimulate microbial activity, and probably amplify soil carbon losses from permafrost areas.

Characterization of Enrichment Cultures of Anammox, Nitrifying and Denitrifying Bacteria Obtained from a Cold, Heavily Nitrogen-Polluted Aquifer

Anammox bacteria related to Candidatus Scalindua were recently discovered in a cold (7.5 °C) aquifer near sludge repositories containing solid wastes of uranium and processed polymetallic concentrate. Groundwater has a very high level of nitrate and ammonia pollution (up to 10 and 0.5 g/L, respectively) and a very low content of organic carbon (2.5 mg/L). To assess the potential for bioremediation of polluted groundwater in situ, enrichment cultures of anammox, nitrifying, and denitrifying bacteria were obtained and analyzed. Fed-batch enrichment of anammox bacteria was not successful. Stable removal of ammonium and nitrite (up to 100%) was achieved in a continuous-flow reactor packed with a nonwoven fabric at 15 °C, and enrichment in anammox bacteria was confirmed by FISH and qPCR assays. The relatively low total N removal efficiency (up to 55%) was due to nonstoichiometric nitrate buildup. This phenomenon can be explained by a shift in the metabolism of anammox bacteria towards the production of more nitrates and less N2 at low temperatures compared to the canonical stoichiometry. In addition, the too high an estimate of specific anammox activity suggests that N cycle microbial groups other than anammox bacteria may have contributed significantly to N removal. Stable nitrite production was observed in the denitrifying enrichment culture, while no "conventional" nitrifiers were found in the corresponding enrichment cultures. Xanthomonadaceae was a common taxon for all microbial communities, indicating its exclusive role in this ecosystem. This study opens up new knowledge about the metabolic capabilities of N cycle bacteria and potential approaches for sustainable bioremediation of heavily N-polluted cold ecosystems.

Complete Genome Sequence of Glutamicibacter sp. Strain M10, Isolated from an Arctic Permafrost Sample

Permafrost is an extremely cold ecosystem that is inhabited by microorganisms with unique biochemical properties for potential biotechnological applications. Here, we present the complete genome sequence of Glutamicibacter sp. strain M10, which was isolated from a permafrost sample that had been collected at a depth of 2 m in West Spitsbergen, Norway.

Transforming growth factor-β signalling in tumour resistance to the anti-PD-(L)1 therapy: Updated.

Low frequency of durable responses in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) demands for taking complementary strategies in order to boost immune responses against cancer. Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is a multi-tasking cytokine that is frequently expressed in tumours and acts as a critical promoter of tumour hallmarks. TGF-β promotes an immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment (TME) and defines a bypass mechanism to the ICI therapy. A number of cells within the stroma of tumour are influenced from TGF-β activity. There is also evidence of a relation between TGF-β with programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression within TME, and it influences the efficacy of anti-programmed death-1 receptor (PD-1) or anti-PD-L1 therapy. Combination of TGF-β inhibitors with anti-PD(L)1 has come to the promising outcomes, and clinical trials are under way in order to use agents with bifunctional capacity and fusion proteins for bonding TGF-β traps with anti-PD-L1 antibodies aiming at reinvigorating immune responses and promoting persistent responses against advanced stage cancers, especially tumours with immunologically cold ecosystem.

Potential Submerged Macrophytes to Mitigate Eutrophication in a High-Elevation Tropical Shallow Lake—A Mesocosm Experiment in the Andes

Submerged macrophytes promote water clarity in shallow lakes in temperate regions via zooplankton refuge, allelopathy, and nutrient competition with phytoplankton, thereby increasing zooplankton grazing. However, in high-altitude Andean ecosystems, these interactions in shallow lakes have received far less attention. To understand the role of submerged plants in a relatively cold ecosystem (typical for the Andean region), two 100 L experiments were conducted in Yahuarcocha Lake, which has a permanent cyanobacterial bloom. In our first experiment, we evaluated the response of the cyanobacteria bloom to different concentrations of Egeria densa (15%, 35%, and 45% PVI). In the second experiment, we investigated the interactions between E. densa (35% PVI), zooplankton, and the small-sized fish Poecilia reticulata as well as their impacts on phytoplankton. We found a strong reduction in cyanobacteria in the presence of E. densa, whereas P. reticulata promoted cyanobacteria dominance and zooplankton had a null effect on phytoplankton. Remarkably, the combination of E. densa, fish, and zooplankton substantially reduced the algae. Our findings showed that the cyanobacteria bloom decreased in the presence of E. densa, thereby increasing the water clarity in the high-elevation eutrophic ecosystem in the Andes. This effect depended on the plant volume inhabited and the small-sized fish biomass.

The ability of <I>Bacillus mojavensis</I> PS17 to grow and synthesize exogenous enzymes at low temperatures

Relevance. Microorganisms growing at low temperatures play a key role in the biochemical cycles in cold ecosystems. These microorganisms secrete enzymes with a wide range of activity at low temperature, which can be used in various fields of the biotechnology industry.Methods. To study the psychrotolerant ability of Bacillus mojavensis PS17 bacteria, a bacterial suspension prepared from a nocturnal culture was used. The ability of Bacillus mojavensis PS17 to grow at low temperatures was studied by kinetic measurement of optical density (OD) at a wavelength (l) of 595 nm. For this purpose, bacterial suspension of Bacillus mojavensis PS17 was inoculated into a basal medium and incubated at various low temperatures (5, 8, and 12 ± 1 °C) for 12 hours. The growth curve was measured every hour using a spectrophotometer. The activity of exogenous enzymes was determined by inoculation and incubation at a temperature of 4 ± 1 °C a Bacillus mojavensis PS17 bacterial suspension on a basal medium amended with 1% of different substrates such as milk powder, Tween-80 and sodium carboxymethylcellulose.Results. The results showed that Bacillus mojavensis PS17 can grow at low temperatures. Evaluation of the activity of exogenous enzymes showed that the isolated enzymes of the studied strain do not lose their properties in conditions of low temperatures. The studied psychrotolerant properties of Bacillus mojavensis PS17 bacteria can be used in various manufacturing biotechnology such as food, textile and pharmaceutical.

A global-drive analysis of ecosystem respiration in the Arctic and Third Pole

Terrestrial ecosystem respiration is an important component of the global terrestrial carbon cycle. The special environment of low temperatures in the Arctic and Third Pole makes ecosystem respiration extremely sensitive to the response of climate change. Therefore, understanding the response of Arctic and Third Pole (Tibetan Plateau) ecosystem respiration to individual global environmental drivers is critical for predicting future climate change caused by global warming. However, current studies have not systematically reported on the relative contributions of rising CO2 concentrations, nitrogen deposition, land-use change, and climate change, which are global change factors with multi-year trends and interannual variability, to ecosystem respiration in the Arctic and Third Pole. Here, we used multiple multi-scenario models of vegetation dynamic process model from 1901 to 2010, and divided each environmental driver, each season into long-term trend and interannual variability components by using a novel variance decomposition method. Our results showed that (1) ecosystems autotrophic respiration and heterotrophic respiration in Arctic and Third Pole are relatively low, which remains within 110 g C m−2 in both the Arctic and the Tibetan Plateau; (2) ecosystem respiration tends to increase in all scenarios, and the increase rate has accelerated significantly since 1980. The interannual variability of climate change contributes the most to the variability of ecosystem respiration, up to 52 % and 63 % in the Arctic and Tibetan Plateau, respectively. Both the multi-year trend and interannual variability of increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration contribute to the increase in ecosystem respiration, with relative contributions of 28 % and 32 %, respectively. (3) In the Arctic and the Tibetan Plateau, which are sensitive to temperature and short-wave radiation, summer is the key seasonal component controlling ecosystem respiration, and the contribution of this season (including long-term trends and interannual variability) to annual ecosystem respiration in the Arctic and the Tibetan Plateau is 64 % and 45 %, respectively. Our study bridged the gap in understanding the response of cold ecosystems to global changes at high altitudes and high latitudes, which provides a methodological reference for future accurate prediction of global environmental drivers of cold ecosystem respiration.

Ecosystem productivity has a stronger influence than soil age on surface soil carbon storage across global biomes

Interactions between soil organic matter and minerals largely govern the carbon sequestration capacity of soils. Yet, variations in the proportions of free light (unprotected) and mineral-associated (protected) carbon as soil develops in contrasting ecosystems are poorly constrained. Here, we studied 16 long-term chronosequences from six continents and found that the ecosystem type is more important than soil age (centuries to millennia) in explaining the proportion of unprotected and mineral-associated carbon fractions in surface soils across global biomes. Soil carbon pools in highly productive tropical and temperate forests were dominated by the unprotected carbon fraction and were highly vulnerable to reductions in ecosystem productivity and warming. Conversely, soil carbon in low productivity, drier and colder ecosystems was dominated by mineral-protected carbon, and was less responsive to warming. Our findings emphasize the importance of conserving ecosystem productivity to protect carbon stored in surface soils.

Nanobiotechnological Method for Studying Metabolically Active Natural Microbial Communities

An innovative nanobiotechnological express method for the detection of metabolically active microorganisms is proposed. The method is based on the inherent feature of microbial cells to generate metal nanoparticles during their metabolic activity in the process of reducing cations added in the system. The resulting nanoparticles are a new solid crystalline phase and can be detected with high accuracy by various physical methods. The technique was successfully tested and proved to be effective in the study of microbial activity in both samples from various cold ecosystems and pure psychoactive cultures from the genera Cryobacterium Methylophilus, Mycobacterium and Rhodococcus. This methodology can be used in ecology for monitoring the ecological state of natural ecosystems, in biotechnology for screening active samples when isolating industrially important microorganisms, and in astrobiology for identifying living metabolizing microbial cells in extraterrestrial environments

Characterization and genome analysis of a psychrophilic methanotroph representing a ubiquitous Methylobacter spp. cluster in boreal lake ecosystems

Lakes and ponds are considered as a major natural source of CH4 emissions, particularly during the ice-free period in boreal ecosystems. Aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB), which utilize CH4 using oxygen as an electron acceptor, are one of the dominant microorganisms in the CH4-rich water columns. Metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) have revealed the genetic potential of MOB from boreal aquatic ecosystems for various microaerobic/anaerobic metabolic functions. However, experimental proof of these functions, i.e., organic acid production via fermentation, by lake MOB is lacking. In addition, psychrophilic (i.e., cold-loving) MOB and their CH4-oxidizing process have rarely been investigated. In this study, we isolated, provided a taxonomic description, and analyzed the genome of Methylobacter sp. S3L5C, a psychrophilic MOB, from a boreal lake in Finland. Based on phylogenomic comparisons to MAGs, Methylobacter sp. S3L5C represented a ubiquitous cluster of Methylobacter spp. in boreal aquatic ecosystems. At optimal temperatures (3–12 °C) and pH (6.8–8.3), the specific growth rates (µ) and CH4 utilization rate were in the range of 0.018–0.022 h−1 and 0.66–1.52 mmol l−1 d−1, respectively. In batch cultivation, the isolate could produce organic acids, and the concentrations were elevated after replenishing CH4 and air into the headspace. Up to 4.1 mM acetate, 0.02 mM malate, and 0.07 mM propionate were observed at the end of the test under optimal operational conditions. The results herein highlight the key role of Methylobacter spp. in regulating CH4 emissions and their potential to provide CH4-derived organic carbon compounds to surrounding heterotrophic microorganisms in cold ecosystems.

Snow Exclusion Does Not Affect Soil Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria and Archaea Communities

Soil ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms play important roles in nitrogen (N) cycling in cold ecosystems, but how changes in snow cover will affect their distribution and associated functional characteristics remains unclear. A snow manipulation experiment was conducted to explore the effects of snow exclusion on soil ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) communities and functional characteristics in a spruce forest in the eastern Tibet Plateau. Results showed that the amoA gene abundance and community composition of AOA and AOB did not differ between snow regimes but varied among winter periods. AOA and AOB gene abundances showed a decreasing trend during the snow cover melting period. During the deep snow cover period, Thaumarchaeota and Crenarchaeota in the AOA community decreased significantly, while Proteobacteria and Nitrosospira in the AOB community increased significantly. The main factors affecting the changes in AOA and AOB community diversity and composition were soil MBN, nitrate nitrogen, and temperature, while AOA and AOB community diversity and composition were also significantly correlated with soil enzyme activities related to N cycling. These results recommend that the season-driven variations strongly affected soil ammonia-oxidizing community and functional characteristics more than momentary snow cover change. Such findings offer new insights into how soil N-cycling processes would respond to reduced snowfall in high-altitude regions.

Cold-Active Enzymes and Their Potential Industrial Applications-A Review.

More than 70% of our planet is covered by extremely cold environments, nourishing a broad diversity of microbial life. Temperature is the most significant parameter that plays a key role in the distribution of microorganisms on our planet. Psychrophilic microorganisms are the most prominent inhabitants of the cold ecosystems, and they possess potential cold-active enzymes with diverse uses in the research and commercial sectors. Psychrophiles are modified to nurture, replicate, and retain their active metabolic activities in low temperatures. Their enzymes possess characteristics of maximal activity at low to adequate temperatures; this feature makes them more appealing and attractive in biotechnology. The high enzymatic activity of psychrozymes at low temperatures implies an important feature for energy saving. These enzymes have proven more advantageous than their mesophilic and thermophilic counterparts. Therefore, it is very important to explore the efficiency and utility of different psychrozymes in food processing, pharmaceuticals, brewing, bioremediation, and molecular biology. In this review, we focused on the properties of cold-active enzymes and their diverse uses in different industries and research areas. This review will provide insight into the areas and characteristics to be improved in cold-active enzymes so that potential and desired enzymes can be made available for commercial purposes.