Biology
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufm.p12a..07l&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P12A-07
Biology
[0419] Biogeosciences / Biomineralization, [0448] Biogeosciences / Geomicrobiology, [5220] Planetary Sciences: Astrobiology / Hydrothermal Systems And Weathering On Other Planets, [6225] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mars
Scientific paper
Putative hydrothermal systems have been identified on Mars based on orbital imagery and rover-based analyses. Based on Earth analogs, hydrothermal systems on Mars would be highly attractive for their potential for preserving organic and inorganic biosignatures. For example, iron oxidizing bacteria are ubiquitous in marine and terrestrial hydrothermal systems, where they often display distinctive cell morphologies and are commonly encrusted by minerals, especially bacteriogenic iron oxides and silica. Microfossils of iron oxidizing bacteria have been found in ancient Si-Fe deposits and iron oxidation may be an ancient and widespread metabolic pathway. In order to investigate mineralized iron oxidizing bacteria as a biosignature, we have examined samples collected from extinct hydrothermal vents along Explorer Ridge, NE Pacific Ocean. In addition, microaerophilic iron oxidizing bacteria, isolated from active Pacific hydrothermal vents, were grown in a Fe-enriched seawater medium at constant pH (6.5) and O2 concentration (5%) in a controlled bioreactor system. Samples and experimental products were examined with a combination of variable-pressure and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), in some cases by preparing samples with a focused ion beam (FIB) milling system. Light-toned seafloor samples display abundant filamentous forms resembling, in both size and shape (1-5 microns in diameter and up to several microns in length), the twisted stalks of Gallionella and the elongated filaments of Leptothrix. Some samples consist entirely of low-density masses of silica (>90% Si) encrusted filamentous forms. The presence of unmineralized filamentous matter rich in C and Fe suggests that these are the remains of iron oxidizing bacteria. Mineralized filaments sectioned by FIB show variable internal material within semi-hollow, tubular-like features. Silica encrustations also show pseudo-concentric growth bands. In the bioreactor runs, abundant microbial growth and formation of an iron oxyhydroxide precipitate, either in direct association with the cells or within the growth medium, were observed. Preliminary analyses suggest that these precipitates are different from abiotic precipitates. Continuing work includes high-resolution TEM observations of cultured organisms and biogenic iron minerals, Raman and reflectance spectroscopy of precipitates, examination of seafloor incubation experiments, and bioreactor silicification experiments in order to better understand the Fe-Si fossilization process. Microaerophilic iron oxidation could have existed on the early Earth in environments containing small amounts of oxygen produced either by locally-concentrated photosynthetic microorganisms (e.g., cyanobacteria) or by chemical reactions. By analogy, similar subsurface or near-surface microaerophilic environments could have existed on Mars in the past, including in low-temperature hydrothermal systems. The distinctive morphologies and Fe-Si mineralization patterns of iron oxidizing bacteria could be a useful biosignature to search for on Mars. Deposits and features similar to those described here could be identified on Mars with existing technologies, and thus hydrothermal systems represent an attractive target for future surface and sample return missions.
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