Halophile survival is due to modified proteins and membranes that keep the cell from dehydrating under such salty conditions. To keep a cell from dehydrating, the cytoplasm must contain a higher concentration of salt than its environments. Halophiles do this by building up potassium concentrations inside the cytoplasm. The cell can only function when this salt is built up in the membrane, without the salt the cell will die. The positive charge on sodium prevents the negative charges from repelling each other and lysing the cell.
Sugars proceed through the glycolytic cycle and then to the citric acid cycle.
When these halophiles are changed from a high oxygen environment to an oxygen-limiting environment, bacteriorhodopsin is incorporated into their cell membranes. Bacteriorhodopsin absorbs light at 570 nm. The retinal chromophore is normally in the all trans form. Light excites the molecule into the cis form. This energy is transferred to a proton motive force coupled to ATP synthesis.