Back to Search
Start Over
Twenty Species of Hypobarophilic Bacteria Recovered from Diverse Soils Exhibit Growth under Simulated Martian Conditions at 0.7 kPa.
- Source :
-
Astrobiology [Astrobiology] 2016 Dec; Vol. 16 (12), pp. 964-976. Date of Electronic Publication: 2016 Nov 21. - Publication Year :
- 2016
-
Abstract
- Bacterial growth at low pressure is a new research area with implications for predicting microbial activity in clouds and the bulk atmosphere on Earth and for modeling the forward contamination of planetary surfaces like Mars. Here, we describe experiments on the recovery and identification of 20 species of bacterial hypobarophiles (def., growth under hypobaric conditions of approximately 1-2 kPa) in 10 genera capable of growth at 0.7 kPa. Hypobarophilic bacteria, but not archaea or fungi, were recovered from diverse soils, and high numbers of hypobarophiles were recovered from Arctic and Siberian permafrost soils. Isolates were identified through 16S rRNA sequencing to belong to the genera Bacillus, Carnobacterium, Clostridium, Cryobacterium, Exiguobacterium, Paenibacillus, Rhodococcus, Streptomyces, and Trichococcus. The highest population of culturable hypobarophilic bacteria (5.1 × 10 <superscript>4</superscript> cfu/g) was recovered from Colour Lake soils from Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian Arctic. In addition, we extend the number of hypobarophilic species in the genus Serratia to six type-strains that include S. ficaria, S. fonticola, S. grimesii, S. liquefaciens, S. plymuthica, and S. quinivorans. Microbial growth at 0.7 kPa suggests that pressure alone will not be growth-limiting on the martian surface, or in Earth's atmosphere up to an altitude of 34 km. Key Words: Barophile-Extremophilic microorganisms-Habitability-Mars-Special Region. Astrobiology 16, 964-976.
- Subjects :
- Bacteria drug effects
Bacteria growth & development
Colony Count, Microbial
Oxygen pharmacology
Permafrost
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Sequence Analysis, RNA
Serratia drug effects
Serratia growth & development
Serratia isolation & purification
Species Specificity
Temperature
Bacteria isolation & purification
Extraterrestrial Environment
Mars
Pressure
Soil
Soil Microbiology
Space Simulation
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1557-8070
- Volume :
- 16
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Astrobiology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 27870556
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1587