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Schuerger AC, Ulrich R, Berry BJ, Nicholson WL. Growth of Serratia liquefaciens under 7 mbar, 0°C, and CO2-enriched anoxic atmospheres. ASTROBIOLOGY 2013; 13:115-31. [PMID: 23289858 PMCID: PMC3582281 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2011.0811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2011] [Accepted: 11/28/2012] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Twenty-six strains of 22 bacterial species were tested for growth on trypticase soy agar (TSA) or sea-salt agar (SSA) under hypobaric, psychrophilic, and anoxic conditions applied singly or in combination. As each factor was added to multi-parameter assays, the interactive stresses decreased the numbers of strains capable of growth and, in general, reduced the vigor of the strains observed to grow. Only Serratia liquefaciens strain ATCC 27592 exhibited growth at 7 mbar, 0°C, and CO2-enriched anoxic atmospheres. To discriminate between the effects of desiccation and hypobaria, vegetative cells of Bacillus subtilis strain 168 and Escherichia coli strain K12 were grown on TSA surfaces and simultaneously in liquid Luria-Bertani (LB) broth media. Inhibition of growth under hypobaria for 168 and K12 decreased in similar ways for both TSA and LB assays as pressures were reduced from 100 to 25 mbar. Results for 168 and K12 on TSA and LB are interpreted to indicate a direct low-pressure effect on microbial growth with both species and do not support the hypothesis that desiccation alone on TSA was the cause of reduced growth at low pressures. The growth of S. liquefaciens at 7 mbar, 0°C, and CO2-enriched anoxic atmospheres was surprising since S. liquefaciens is ecologically a generalist that occurs in terrestrial plant, fish, animal, and food niches. In contrast, two extremophiles tested in the assays, Deinococcus radiodurans strain R1 and Psychrobacter cryohalolentis strain K5, failed to grow under hypobaric (25 mbar; R1 only), psychrophilic (0°C; R1 only), or anoxic (< 0.1% ppO2; both species) conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew C Schuerger
- Department of Plant Pathology, University of Florida , Space Life Sciences Lab, Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899, USA.
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Moore JM, Bullock MA, Newsom H, Nelson M. Laboratory simulations of Mars evaporite geochemistry. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1029/2008je003208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Berry BJ, Jenkins DG, Schuerger AC. Effects of simulated Mars conditions on the survival and growth of Escherichia coli and Serratia liquefaciens. Appl Environ Microbiol 2010; 76:2377-86. [PMID: 20154104 PMCID: PMC2849189 DOI: 10.1128/aem.02147-09] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2009] [Accepted: 02/01/2010] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Escherichia coli and Serratia liquefaciens, two bacterial spacecraft contaminants known to replicate under low atmospheric pressures of 2.5 kPa, were tested for growth and survival under simulated Mars conditions. Environmental stresses of high salinity, low temperature, and low pressure were screened alone and in combination for effects on bacterial survival and replication, and then cells were tested in Mars analog soils under simulated Mars conditions. Survival and replication of E. coli and S. liquefaciens cells in liquid medium were evaluated for 7 days under low temperatures (5, 10, 20, or 30 degrees C) with increasing concentrations (0, 5, 10, or 20%) of three salts (MgCl(2), MgSO(4), NaCl) reported to be present on the surface of Mars. Moderate to high growth rates were observed for E. coli and S. liquefaciens at 30 or 20 degrees C and in solutions with 0 or 5% salts. In contrast, cell densities of both species generally did not increase above initial inoculum levels under the highest salt concentrations (10 and 20%) and the four temperatures tested, with the exception that moderately higher cell densities were observed for both species at 10% MgSO(4) maintained at 20 or 30 degrees C. Growth rates of E. coli and S. liquefaciens in low salt concentrations were robust under all pressures (2.5, 10, or 101.3 kPa), exhibiting a general increase of up to 2.5 orders of magnitude above the initial inoculum levels of the assays. Vegetative E. coli cells were maintained in a Mars analog soil for 7 days under simulated Mars conditions that included temperatures between 20 and -50 degrees C for a day/night diurnal period, UVC irradiation (200 to 280 nm) at 3.6 W m(-2) for daytime operations (8 h), pressures held at a constant 0.71 kPa, and a gas composition that included the top five gases found in the martian atmosphere. Cell densities of E. coli failed to increase under simulated Mars conditions, and survival was reduced 1 to 2 orders of magnitude by the interactive effects of desiccation, UV irradiation, high salinity, and low pressure (in decreasing order of importance). Results suggest that E. coli may be able to survive, but not grow, in surficial soils on Mars.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bonnie J. Berry
- Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, Florida 32816, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Florida, Bldg. M6-1025, Space Life Sciences Lab, Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899
| | - David G. Jenkins
- Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, Florida 32816, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Florida, Bldg. M6-1025, Space Life Sciences Lab, Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899
| | - Andrew C. Schuerger
- Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, Florida 32816, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Florida, Bldg. M6-1025, Space Life Sciences Lab, Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899
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Clark BC, Arvidson RE, Gellert R, Morris RV, Ming DW, Richter L, Ruff SW, Michalski JR, Farrand WH, Yen A, Herkenhoff KE, Li R, Squyres SW, Schröder C, Klingelhöfer G, Bell JF. Evidence for montmorillonite or its compositional equivalent in Columbia Hills, Mars. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.1029/2006je002756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Newsom HE, Crumpler LS, Reedy RC, Petersen MT, Newsom GC, Evans LG, Taylor GJ, Keller JM, Janes DM, Boynton WV, Kerry KE, Karunatillake S. Geochemistry of Martian soil and bedrock in mantled and less mantled terrains with gamma ray data from Mars Odyssey. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.1029/2006je002680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Yen AS, Mittlefehldt DW, McLennan SM, Gellert R, Bell JF, McSween HY, Ming DW, McCoy TJ, Morris RV, Golombek M, Economou T, Madsen MB, Wdowiak T, Clark BC, Jolliff BL, Schröder C, Brückner J, Zipfel J, Squyres SW. Nickel on Mars: Constraints on meteoritic material at the surface. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006. [DOI: 10.1029/2006je002797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- A. S. Yen
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory; California Institute of Technology; Pasadena California USA
| | | | - S. M. McLennan
- Department of Geosciences; State University of New York at Stony Brook; Stony Brook New York USA
| | - R. Gellert
- Department of Physics; University of Guelph; Guelph Ontario Canada
| | - J. F. Bell
- Department of Astronomy; Cornell University; Ithaca New York USA
| | - H. Y. McSween
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences; University of Tennessee; Knoxville Tennessee USA
| | - D. W. Ming
- NASA Johnson Space Center; Houston Texas USA
| | - T. J. McCoy
- National Museum of Natural History; Smithsonian Institution; Washington, D.C. USA
| | | | - M. Golombek
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory; California Institute of Technology; Pasadena California USA
| | - T. Economou
- Enrico Fermi Institute; University of Chicago; Chicago Illinois USA
| | - M. B. Madsen
- Niels Bohr Institute; University of Copenhagen; Copenhagen Denmark
| | - T. Wdowiak
- Department of Physics; University of Alabama at Birmingham; Birmingham Alabama USA
| | - B. C. Clark
- Lockheed Martin Corporation; Littleton Colorado USA
| | - B. L. Jolliff
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences; Washington University; St. Louis Missouri USA
| | - C. Schröder
- Johannes Gutenberg University; Mainz Germany
| | - J. Brückner
- Max Planck Institut für Chemie; Mainz Germany
| | - J. Zipfel
- Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Senckenberg; Frankfurt Germany
| | - S. W. Squyres
- Department of Astronomy; Cornell University; Ithaca New York USA
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Hurowitz JA. Experimental epithermal alteration of synthetic Los Angeles meteorite: Implications for the origin of Martian soils and identification of hydrothermal sites on Mars. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005. [DOI: 10.1029/2004je002391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Gellert R, Rieder R, Anderson RC, Brückner J, Clark BC, Dreibus G, Economou T, Klingelhöfer G, Lugmair GW, Ming DW, Squyres SW, D'Uston C, Wänke H, Yen A, Zipfel J. Chemistry of Rocks and Soils in Gusev Crater from the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer. Science 2004; 305:829-32. [PMID: 15297665 DOI: 10.1126/science.1099913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 254] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
The alpha particle x-ray spectrometer on the Spirit rover determined major and minor elements of soils and rocks in Gusev crater in order to unravel the crustal evolution of planet Mars. The composition of soils is similar to those at previous landing sites, as a result of global mixing and distribution by dust storms. Rocks (fresh surfaces exposed by the rock abrasion tool) resemble volcanic rocks of primitive basaltic composition with low intrinsic potassium contents. High abundance of bromine (up to 170 parts per million) in rocks may indicate the alteration of surfaces formed during a past period of aqueous activity in Gusev crater.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Gellert
- Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, J. J. Becher-Weg 27, D-55128 Mainz, Germany.
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Jakosky BM, Mellon MT. High-resolution thermal inertia mapping of Mars: Sites of exobiological interest. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2001. [DOI: 10.1029/2000je001311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Newsom HE, Hagerty JJ, Thorsos IE. Location and sampling of aqueous and hydrothermal deposits in martian impact craters. ASTROBIOLOGY 2001; 1:71-88. [PMID: 12448996 DOI: 10.1089/153110701750137459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Do large craters on Mars represent sites that contain aqueous and hydrothermal deposits that provide clues to astrobiological processes? Are these materials available for sampling in large craters? Several lines of evidence strongly support the exploration of large impact craters to study deposits important for astrobiology. The great depth of impact craters, up to several kilometers relative to the surrounding terrain, can allow the breaching of local aquifers, providing a source of water for lakes and hydrothermal systems. Craters can also be filled with water from outflow channels and valley networks to form large lakes with accompanying sedimentation. Impact melt and uplifted basement heat sources in craters > 50 km in diameter should be sufficient to drive substantial hydrothermal activity and keep crater lakes from freezing for thousands of years, even under cold climatic conditions. Fluid flow in hydrothermal systems is focused at the edges of large planar impact melt sheets, suggesting that the edge of the melt sheets will have experienced substantial hydrothermal alteration and mineral deposition. Hydrothermal deposits, fine-grained lacustrine sediments, and playa evaporite deposits may preserve evidence for biogeochemical processes that occurred in the aquifers and craters. Therefore, large craters may represent giant Petri dishes for culturing preexisting life on Mars and promoting biogeochemical processes. Landing sites must be identified in craters where access to the buried lacustrine sediments and impact melt deposits is provided by processes such as erosion from outflow channels, faulting, aeolian erosion, or excavation by later superimposed cratering events. Very recent gully formation and small impacts within craters may allow surface sampling of organic materials exposed only recently to the harsh oxidizing surface environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- H E Newsom
- Institute of Meteoritics and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
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Bell JF, McSween HY, Crisp JA, Morris RV, Murchie SL, Bridges NT, Johnson JR, Britt DT, Golombek MP, Moore HJ, Ghosh A, Bishop JL, Anderson RC, Brückner J, Economou T, Greenwood JP, Gunnlaugsson HP, Hargraves RM, Hviid S, Knudsen JM, Madsen MB, Reid R, Rieder R, Soderblom L. Mineralogic and compositional properties of Martian soil and dust: Results from Mars Pathfinder. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2000. [DOI: 10.1029/1999je001060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 230] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Newsom HE, Hagerty JJ, Goff F. Mixed hydrothermal fluids and the origin of the Martian soil. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1999. [DOI: 10.1029/1998je900043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Jakosky BM, Shock EL. The biological potential of Mars, the early Earth, and Europa. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH 1998; 103:19359-64. [PMID: 11542257 DOI: 10.1029/98je01892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The potential biomass that could have existed on Mars is constrained by the total amount of energy available to construct it. From an inventory of the available geochemical sources of energy, we estimate that from the time of the onset of the visible geologic record 4 b.y. ago to the present, as much as 20 g cm-2 of biota could have been created. This is the same amount that could have been constructed on the early Earth in only 100 million years. This indicates that there likely was sufficient energy available to support an origin of life on Mars but not sufficient energy to create a ubiquitous and lush biosphere. Similar calculations for Europa suggest that even less would have been available there.
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Affiliation(s)
- B M Jakosky
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA.
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