Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T19:48:16.746Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Raman spectroscopy and the search for life signatures in the ExoMars Mission*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2012

Howell G.M. Edwards ,
Ian B. Hutchinson  and
Richard Ingley
Howell G.M. Edwards
Affiliation:
Centre for Astrobiology and Extremophiles Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, UK Department of Physics and Astronomy, Space Research Centre, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
Ian B. Hutchinson
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Space Research Centre, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
Richard Ingley*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Space Research Centre, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
*
e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The survival strategies of extremophilic organisms in terrestrially stressed locations and habitats are critically dependent on the production of protective chemicals in response to desiccation, low wavelength radiation insolation, temperature and the availability of nutrients. The adaptation of life to these harsh prevailing conditions involves the control of the substratal geology; the interaction between the rock and the organisms is critical and the biological modification of the geological matrix plays a very significant role in the overall survival strategy. Identification of these biological and biogeological chemical molecular signatures in the geological record is necessary for the recognition of the presence of extinct or extant life in terrestrial and extraterrestrial scenarios. Raman spectroscopic techniques have been identified as valuable instrumentation for the detection of life extra-terrestrially because of the use of non-invasive laser-based excitation of organic and inorganic molecules, and molecular ions with high discrimination characteristics; the interactions effected between biological organisms and their environments are detectable through the molecular entities produced at the interfaces, for which the vibrational spectroscopic band signatures are unique. A very important attribute of Raman spectroscopy is the acquisition of molecular experimental data non-destructively without the need for chemical or mechanical pre-treatment of the specimen; this has been a major factor in the proposal for the adoption of Raman instrumentation on robotic landers and rovers for planetary exploration, particularly for the forthcoming European Space Agency (ESA)/National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ExoMars mission. In this paper, the merits of using Raman spectroscopy for the recognition of key molecular biosignatures from several terrestrial extremophile specimens will be illustrated. The data and specimens used in this presentation have been acquired from Arctic and Antarctic cold deserts and a meteorite crater, from which it will be possible to assess spectral data relevant for the detection of extra-terrestrial extremophilic life signatures.

Keywords

ExoMars missionextremophileslife detection signaturesRaman spectroscopy
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 11 , Issue 4: SPECIAL ISSUE: THE SAO PAULO ADVANCED SCHOOL OF ASTROBIOLOGY – SPASA 2011 , October 2012 , pp. 269 - 278
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Paper for the Special Issue of Astrobiology based on the SPASA 2011 Meeting, Sao Paulo, Brazil, December, 2011.

References

Clark, B.C. (1998). Surviving the limits to life at the surface of Mars. J. Geophys. Res. Planets 3, 28545–28556.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Czernuszewicz, R.S., Rankin, J.G. & Lash, T.D. (1996). Fingerprinting petroporphyrin structures with vibrational spectroscopy. 4. Resonance Raman spectra of nickel (I1) cycloalkanoporphyrins: Structural effects due to exocyclic ring size. Inorg. Chem. 35, 199–209.Google Scholar
Doran, P.T., Wharton, R.A.J., Des Marais, D.J. & McKay, C.P. (1998). Antarctic palaeolake sediments and the search for extinct life on Mars. J. Geophys. Res. Planets 103, 28481–28494.Google Scholar
Edwards, H.G.M., Russell, N.C., Seaward, M.R.D. & Wynn-Williams, D.D. (1995). FT-Raman spectroscopic studies of environmental biodeterioration. In Proc. 1st Australian Conf. on Vibrational Spectroscopy, ed. Armstrong, R.S.University of Sydney Press, Sydney, pp. 41–42.Google Scholar
Edwards, H.G.M., Russell, N.C. & Wynn-Williams, D.D. (1997). 6Fourier Transform Raman spectroscopic and scanning electron microscopic study of ir'yptoendolithic lichens from Antarctica. J. Raman Spectrosc. 28, 685–690.3.0.CO;2-X>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedmann, E.L. (1982). Endolithic microorganisms in the Antarctic cold desert. Science, N.Y. 215, 1045–1053.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friedmann, E.l. & Weed, R. (1987). Microbial trace-fossil formation, biogenous, and abiotic weathering in the Antarctic cold desert. Science 236, 703–705.Google Scholar
Friedmann, E.l., Hua, M. S. & Ocampo-Friedmann, R. (1988). Cryptoendolithic lichen and cyanobacterial communities of the Ross Desert, Antarctica. Polarforsch 58, 251–259.Google ScholarPubMed
Grin, E.A. & Cabrol, N.A. (1997). Limnologic analysis of Gusev crater paleolake, Mars. Icarus 130, 461–474.Google Scholar
Haskin, L.A., Wang, A., Rockow, K.M., Joliff, B.L., Korotev, R.L. & Viskupic, K.M. (1997). Raman spectroscopy for mineral identification and quantification for in situ planetary surface analysis: A point count method. J. Geophys. Res. 102, 19293–19306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huseby, B., Barth, T. & Ocampo, R. (1996). Porphyrins in Upper Jurassic source rocks and correlations with other source rock descriptors. Org. Geochem. 25, 273–294.Google Scholar
Israel, E.J., Arvidson, R.E., Wang, A., Pasteris, J.D. & Jolliff, B.L. (1997). Laser Raman spectroscopy of varnished basalt and implications for in situ measurements of Martian rocks. J. Geophys. Res. Planets 102, 28705–28716.Google Scholar
Overmann, J., Sandmann, G., Hall, K.J., Northcote, T.G. (1993). Fossil carotenoids and paleolimnology of meromictic Mahoney Lake, British Columbia, Canada. Aquat. Sci. 55, 31–39.Google Scholar
Siebert, J., Hirsch, P., Hoffmann, B., Gliesche, C.G., Peissl, K. & Jendrach, M. (1996). Cryptoendolithic microorganisms from Antarctic sandstone of Linnaeus Terrace (Asgard Range): diversity, properties and interactions. Biodivers. Conserv. 5, 1337–1363.Google Scholar
Vincent, W.F. & James, M.R. (1996). Biodiversity in extreme aquatic environments: lakes, ponds and streams of the Ross Sea sector, Antarctica. Biodivers. Conserv. 5, 1451–1471.Google Scholar
Wang, A., Jolliff, B.L. & Haskin, L.A. (1995). Raman-spectroscopy as a method for mineral identification on lunar robotic exploration missions. J. Geophys. Res. Planets 100, 21189–21199.Google Scholar
Wharton, R.A. (1994). Stromatolitic mats in Antarctic lakes. In Phanerozoic Stromatolites 11, ed. Bertrand-Sarfati, J. & Monty, C.Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp. 53–70.Google Scholar
Wharton, R.A., Crosby, J.M., McKay, C.P. & Rice, J.W. (1995). Paleolakes on Mars. J. Palaeolim. 13, 267–283.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wdowiak, T.J., Agresti, D.G. & Nfirov, S.B. (1995). A laser Raman system suitable for incorporation into lander spacecraft [abstract]. Lunar Planet. Sci. XXVI, 1473–1474.Google Scholar
Wdowiak, T.J., Agresti, D.G., Nfirov, S.B. & Kudryavtsev, A.B. (1997). Progress in the development of a laser Raman spectrometer system for a lander spacecraft. In Conf. on Early Mars (April 1997), Eds. Clifford, S.M., Treiman, A.H., Newsom, H.E. & Farmer, J.D.Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, p. 2.Google Scholar
Wynn Williams, D.D., Edwards, H.G.M. & Garcia Pichel, F. (1999). Functional biomolecules of Antarctic stromatolitic and endolithic cyanobacterial communities. Eur. J. Phycol. 3 4, 381–391.Google Scholar
Treado, P.J. & Treiman, A. (1996). Laser Raman spectroscopy. In Point Clear Exobiology Instrumentation Workshop. Eds. Wdowiak, T.J. & Agresti, D.G.University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, pp. 7–10.Google Scholar