New advances in the understanding of haloarchaea physiology, metabolism, biochemistry, and molecular biology show that these kinds of microorganisms produce several compounds in response to the extreme conditions of their ecosystems. Thus, the complete metabolic and genetic machineries are fully adapted to nutrient starvation, high sun radiation, and high ionic strength. Due to these adaptations, some of the primary and secondary metabolites produced by haloarchaea are of high interest in terms of potential biotechnological uses. The principal goal of the chapter is to present a review about the main characteristics of these biocompounds and their potential uses in biomedicine, pharmacy, and industry.

Most of the recent studies on enzymes and carotenoids from haloarchaea carried out in our laboratory have been supported by several grants from MINECO and Generalitat Valenciana (Spain). MINECO: CTM2013-43147-R; Generalitat Valenciana: APE/2016/045; ACIF/2016/077.