1
|
Aguzzi J, Cuadros J, Dartnell L, Costa C, Violino S, Canfora L, Danovaro R, Robinson NJ, Giovannelli D, Flögel S, Stefanni S, Chatzievangelou D, Marini S, Picardi G, Foing B. Marine Science Can Contribute to the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life. Life (Basel) 2024; 14:676. [PMID: 38929660 PMCID: PMC11205085 DOI: 10.3390/life14060676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2024] [Revised: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Life on our planet likely evolved in the ocean, and thus exo-oceans are key habitats to search for extraterrestrial life. We conducted a data-driven bibliographic survey on the astrobiology literature to identify emerging research trends with marine science for future synergies in the exploration for extraterrestrial life in exo-oceans. Based on search queries, we identified 2592 published items since 1963. The current literature falls into three major groups of terms focusing on (1) the search for life on Mars, (2) astrobiology within our Solar System with reference to icy moons and their exo-oceans, and (3) astronomical and biological parameters for planetary habitability. We also identified that the most prominent research keywords form three key-groups focusing on (1) using terrestrial environments as proxies for Martian environments, centred on extremophiles and biosignatures, (2) habitable zones outside of "Goldilocks" orbital ranges, centred on ice planets, and (3) the atmosphere, magnetic field, and geology in relation to planets' habitable conditions, centred on water-based oceans.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jacopo Aguzzi
- Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM)—CSIC, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; (N.J.R.); (D.C.); (G.P.)
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy; (S.S.); (S.M.)
| | - Javier Cuadros
- Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5D, UK;
| | - Lewis Dartnell
- School of Life Sciences, University of Westminster, 115 New Cavendish St, London W1W 6UW, UK;
| | - Corrado Costa
- Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi Dell’Economia Agraria—Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy; (C.C.); (S.V.)
| | - Simona Violino
- Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi Dell’Economia Agraria—Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy; (C.C.); (S.V.)
| | - Loredana Canfora
- Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’economia Agraria—Centro di Ricerca Agricoltura e Ambiente, 00182 Roma, Italy;
| | - Roberto Danovaro
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marcs (UNIVPM), 60131 Ancona, Italy;
| | - Nathan Jack Robinson
- Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM)—CSIC, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; (N.J.R.); (D.C.); (G.P.)
| | - Donato Giovannelli
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80138 Naples, Italy;
- National Research Council—Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnologies (CNR-IRBIM), 60125 Ancona, Italy
- Department of Marine and Coastal Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
- Marine Chemistry, Geochemistry Department—Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Falmouth, MA 02543, USA
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan
| | - Sascha Flögel
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, 24106 Kiel, Germany;
| | - Sergio Stefanni
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy; (S.S.); (S.M.)
| | | | - Simone Marini
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy; (S.S.); (S.M.)
- Institute of Marine Sciences, National Research Council of Italy (CNR-ISMAR), 19032 La Spezia, Italy
| | - Giacomo Picardi
- Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM)—CSIC, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; (N.J.R.); (D.C.); (G.P.)
| | - Bernard Foing
- Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1081-1087, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Coleine C, Albanese D, Ray AE, Delgado-Baquerizo M, Stajich JE, Williams TJ, Larsen S, Tringe S, Pennacchio C, Ferrari BC, Donati C, Selbmann L. Metagenomics untangles potential adaptations of Antarctic endolithic bacteria at the fringe of habitability. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 917:170290. [PMID: 38244622 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2023] [Revised: 01/17/2024] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 01/22/2024]
Abstract
Survival and growth strategies of Antarctic endolithic microbes residing in Earth's driest and coldest desert remain virtually unknown. From 109 endolithic microbiomes, 4539 metagenome-assembled genomes were generated, 49.3 % of which were novel candidate bacterial species. We present evidence that trace gas oxidation and atmospheric chemosynthesis may be the prevalent strategies supporting metabolic activity and persistence of these ecosystems at the fringe of life and the limits of habitability.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Coleine
- Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences, University of Tuscia, Largo dell'Università, 01100 Viterbo, Italy.
| | - Davide Albanese
- Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38098 San Michele all'Adige, Italy
| | - Angelique E Ray
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Randwick, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
- Laboratorio de Biodiversidad y Funcionamiento Ecosistémico, Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS), CSIC, Av. Reina Mercedes 10, E-41012 Sevilla, Spain; Unidad Asociada CSIC-UPO (BioFun), Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 41013 Sevilla, Spain
| | - Jason E Stajich
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology and Institute of Integrative Genome Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92507, USA; Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Timothy J Williams
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Randwick, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Stefano Larsen
- Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38098 San Michele all'Adige, Italy
| | - Susannah Tringe
- Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Christa Pennacchio
- Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Belinda C Ferrari
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Randwick, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Claudio Donati
- Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38098 San Michele all'Adige, Italy.
| | - Laura Selbmann
- Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences, University of Tuscia, Largo dell'Università, 01100 Viterbo, Italy; Mycological Section, Italian Antarctic National Museum (MNA), Via al Porto Antico, 16128 Genoa, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Schultz J, Modolon F, Peixoto RS, Rosado AS. Shedding light on the composition of extreme microbial dark matter: alternative approaches for culturing extremophiles. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1167718. [PMID: 37333658 PMCID: PMC10272570 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1167718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/20/2023] Open
Abstract
More than 20,000 species of prokaryotes (less than 1% of the estimated number of Earth's microbial species) have been described thus far. However, the vast majority of microbes that inhabit extreme environments remain uncultured and this group is termed "microbial dark matter." Little is known regarding the ecological functions and biotechnological potential of these underexplored extremophiles, thus representing a vast untapped and uncharacterized biological resource. Advances in microbial cultivation approaches are key for a detailed and comprehensive characterization of the roles of these microbes in shaping the environment and, ultimately, for their biotechnological exploitation, such as for extremophile-derived bioproducts (extremozymes, secondary metabolites, CRISPR Cas systems, and pigments, among others), astrobiology, and space exploration. Additional efforts to enhance culturable diversity are required due to the challenges imposed by extreme culturing and plating conditions. In this review, we summarize methods and technologies used to recover the microbial diversity of extreme environments, while discussing the advantages and disadvantages associated with each of these approaches. Additionally, this review describes alternative culturing strategies to retrieve novel taxa with their unknown genes, metabolisms, and ecological roles, with the ultimate goal of increasing the yields of more efficient bio-based products. This review thus summarizes the strategies used to unveil the hidden diversity of the microbiome of extreme environments and discusses the directions for future studies of microbial dark matter and its potential applications in biotechnology and astrobiology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Júnia Schultz
- Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
- Computational Bioscience Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Flúvio Modolon
- Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
- Laboratory of Molecular Microbial Ecology, Institute of Microbiology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Raquel Silva Peixoto
- Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
- Computational Bioscience Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Alexandre Soares Rosado
- Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
- Computational Bioscience Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Terranova ML. Prominent Roles and Conflicted Attitudes of Eumelanin in the Living World. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24097783. [PMID: 37175490 PMCID: PMC10178024 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24097783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2023] [Revised: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/22/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Eumelanin, a macromolecule widespread in all the living world and long appreciated for its protective action against harmful UV radiation, is considered the beneficial component of the melanin family (ευ means good in ancient Greek). This initially limited picture has been rather recently extended and now includes a variety of key functions performed by eumelanin in order to support life also under extreme conditions. A lot of still unexplained aspects characterize this molecule that, in an evolutionary context, survived natural selection. This paper aims to emphasize the unique characteristics and the consequent unusual behaviors of a molecule that still holds the main chemical/physical features detected in fossils dating to the late Carboniferous. In this context, attention is drawn to the duality of roles played by eumelanin, which occasionally reverses its functional processes, switching from an anti-oxidant to a pro-oxidant behavior and implementing therefore harmful effects.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Letizia Terranova
- Dipartimento Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Roma "Tor Vergata", Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Roma, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Cassaro A, Pacelli C, Onofri S. Survival, metabolic activity, and ultrastructural damages of Antarctic black fungus in perchlorates media. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:992077. [PMID: 36523839 PMCID: PMC9744811 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.992077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 09/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Evidence from recent Mars landers identified the presence of perchlorates salts at 1 wt % in regolith and their widespread distribution on the Martian surface that has been hypothesized as a critical chemical hazard for putative life forms. However, the hypersaline environment may also potentially preserve life and its biomolecules over geological timescales. The high concentration of natural perchlorates is scarcely reported on Earth. The presence of perchlorates in soil and ice has been recorded in some extreme environments including the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica, one of the best terrestrial analogues for Mars. In the frame of "Life in space" Italian astrobiology project, the polyextremophilic black fungus Cryomyces antarcticus, a eukaryotic test organism isolated from the Antarctic cryptoendolithic communities, has been tested for its resistance, when grown on different hypersaline substrata. In addition, C. antarcticus was grown on Martian relevant perchlorate medium (0.4 wt% of Mg(ClO4)2 and 0.6 wt% of Ca(ClO4)2) to investigate the possibility for the fungus to survive in Martian environment. Here, the results indicate a good survivability and metabolic activity recovery of the black fungus when grown on four Martian relevant perchlorates. A low percentage of damaged cellular membranes have been found, confirming the ultrastructural investigation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alessia Cassaro
- Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences, University of Tuscia, Largo dell’Università snc, Viterbo, Italy
| | - Claudia Pacelli
- Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences, University of Tuscia, Largo dell’Università snc, Viterbo, Italy
- Human Spaceflight and Scientific Research Unit, Italian Space Agency, via del Politecnico, Rome, Italy
| | - Silvano Onofri
- Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences, University of Tuscia, Largo dell’Università snc, Viterbo, Italy
| |
Collapse
|