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Results on the survival of cryptobiotic cyanobacteria samples after exposure to Mars-like environmental conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 October 2013

J. -P. de Vera ,
S. Dulai ,
A. Kereszturi ,
L. Koncz ,
A. Lorek ,
D. Mohlmann ,
M. Marschall  and
T. Pocs
J. -P. de Vera
Affiliation:
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany
S. Dulai
Affiliation:
Departments of Plant Physiology and Botany, Eszterhazy Karoly College, Eger, Hungary
A. Kereszturi*
Affiliation:
New Europe School for Theoretical Biology and Ecology, Hungary Konkoly Thege Miklos Astronomical Institute, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Hungary
L. Koncz
Affiliation:
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany
A. Lorek
Affiliation:
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany
D. Mohlmann
Affiliation:
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany
M. Marschall
Affiliation:
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany Departments of Plant Physiology and Botany, Eszterhazy Karoly College, Eger, Hungary
T. Pocs
Affiliation:
Departments of Plant Physiology and Botany, Eszterhazy Karoly College, Eger, Hungary
*
e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Tests on cyanobacteria communities embedded in cryptobiotic crusts collected in hot and cold deserts on Earth were performed under Mars-like conditions. The simulations were realized as a survey, to find the best samples for future research. During the tests organisms have to resist Mars-like conditions such as atmospheric composition, pressure, variable humidity (saturated and dry conditions) and partly strong UV irradiation. Organisms were tested within their original habitat inside the crust. Nearly half of the cryptobiotic samples from various sites showed survival of a substantial part of their coexisting organisms. The survival in general depended more on the nature of the original habitat and type of the sample than on the different conditions they were exposed to. The best survival was observed in samples from United Arab Emirates (Jebel Ali, 25 km SW of Dubai town) and from Western Australia (near the South edge of Lake Barley), by taxa: Tolypothrix byssoidea, Gloeocapsopsis pleurocapsoides, Nostoc microscopicum, Leptolyngbya or Symploca sp. At both places in salty desert areas members of the Chenopodiaceae family dominated among the higher plants and in the cryptobiotic crust cyanobacterial taxa Tolypothrix was dominant. These organisms were all living in salty locations with dry conditions most of the year. Among them Tolypothrix, Gloeocapsopsis and Symploca sp. were tested in Mars simulation chambers for the first time. The results suggest that extremophiles should be tested with taken into account the context of their original microenvironment, and also the importance to analyse communities of microbes beside single organisms.

Keywords

extremophilescyanobacteriacryptobiotic crustMarssimulation
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , January 2014 , pp. 35 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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