Haloarchaeal survival over geological times and the detection of extraterrestrial halite - implications for the search for life on Mars

Details Haloarchaeal survival over geological times and the detection of extraterrestrial halite - implications for the search for life on Mars Haloarchaeal survival over geological times and the detection of extraterrestrial halite - implications for the search for life on Mars

Mar 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004esasp.545...63s&link_type=abstract

In: Proceedings of the Third European Workshop on Exo-Astrobiology, 18 - 20 November 2003, Madrid, Spain. Ed.: R. A. Harris & L.

Biology

6

Earth: Astrobiology

Scientific paper

Several viable extremely halophilic archaebacteria (haloarchaea) were isolated previously from Permo-Triassic salt sediments. We described two halococcal strains from rock salt of the salt mine in Bad Ischl, Austria. Recently, we isolated a rod-shaped haloarchaeal species from a salt bore core. In addition, sequencing of 16S rRNA genes from dissolved rock salt indicated the presence of a vast diversity of as yet uncultured haloarchaea. The results are compatible with the notion that these haloarchaea might be the remnants of microbial communities which populated the ancient hypersaline seas. How they survived in the dry salt evaporites is not known. Extremely dry conditions are characteristic for the Martian surface and perhaps also subsurface; since extraterrestrial halite has been discovered in meteorites from Mars and other celestial bodies, it appears feasible to explore the response of haloarchaea to simulated Martian environments. Preliminary results suggested survival rates of haloarchaea, following freezing, freeze-drying or embedding in salt crystals, respectively, in the range of 0.1 to 10%. Thus, low water activities and low temperatures appear to be tolerated well by haloarchaea.

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