Never before described microbes were discovered in the extremely salty, cold, and virtually oxygen-free environment that is the closest thing to parts of Mars in a spring in Canada. Additionally, researchers at McGill University were able to learn about their metabolism using cutting-edge genomic techniques.
In a recent article published in The ISME Journal, scientists have for the first time reported that microbial communities and microbial communities living in Canada’s High ArcticThey can survive in conditions similar to those on Mars by eating and breathing simple inorganic compounds. A species (such as methane, sulfur, sulfate, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide) detected on Mars.
According to this university, this discovery is so convincing that the European Space Agency has selected samples from the sediments where the find was made to test the life-detection capabilities of the instruments they plan to use on the next ExoMars mission.
The Lost Hammer Spring, located in Nunavut in Canada’s Arctic, is one of the coldest and saltiest land-based springs ever discovered. The water rising to the surface from the 600-meter permafrost layer, It is extremely salty (24% salinity), always below zero (-5 °C), and contains almost no oxygen.
A McGill University research team led by Lyle Whyte of the Department of Natural Resource Sciences used state-of-the-art genomic tools and single-cell microbiology methods to gain insight into the type of life forms that could exist on Mars. . With them he described and characterized this novel and, more importantly, the active microbial community this unique spring. Finding microbes and then sequencing their DNA and mRNA was no easy task.
“We had been working with sediment for several years before we could successfully detect active microbial communities”, explains Elisse Magnuson, the paper’s first author. “The salinity of the environment inhibits both removal and sequencing of microbes, so it was a very satisfying experience when we were able to find evidence of active microbial communities,” adds she.
The team isolated and sequenced the spring community’s DNA. It was allowed to reconstruct the genomes of about 110 microorganisms, most of which had never been seen before. These genomes allowed the team to determine how these creatures survived and thrived in this uniquely extreme environment, acting as blueprints for possible life forms in similar environments. Through mRNA sequencing, the team was able to identify active genes in the genomes and essentially identify some very unusual microbes that are actively metabolizing in the extreme environment of spring.
They can live on Mars
“The microbes we found and identified at Lost Hammer Spring are surprising because, unlike other microorganisms, they don’t depend on organic matter or oxygen for survival,” adds Whyte. “Yeah instead.They survive by eating and breathing simple inorganic compounds such as methane, sulphides, sulfate, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, all found on Mars.. They can also fix carbon dioxide and nitrogen gases in the atmosphere, making them highly adapted to both survive and thrive in very extreme environments, both on Earth and beyond.”
The next steps in the research will be to further cultivate and characterize the most abundant and active members of this rare microbial ecosystem to better understand why and how they thrive in the very cold and salty dung of the Lost Hammer Spring. The researchers hope this will help interpret the exciting yet enigmatic sulfur and carbon isotopes recently obtained from NASA’s Curiosity rover in Gale Crater on Mars.
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Environment department contact address:crisclimatica@prensaiberica.es
Source: Informacion
