Significant progress is being made in the development of the next generation of low cost life detection instrumentation with much smaller size, mass and energy requirements. Here, we describe in situ life detection and sequencing in the field in soils over laying ice wedges in polygonal permafrost terrain on Axel Heiberg Island, located in the Canadian high Arctic (79°26′N), an analog to the polygonal permafrost terrain observed on Mars. The life detection methods used here include (1) the cryo-iPlate for culturing microorganisms using diffusion of in situ nutrients into semi-solid media (2) a Microbial Activity Microassay (MAM) plate (BIOLOG Ecoplate) for detecting viable extant microorganisms through a colourimetric assay, and (3) the Oxford Nanopore MinION for nucleic acid detection and sequencing of environmental samples and the products of MAM plate and cryo-iPlate. We obtained 39 microbial isolates using the cryo-iPlate, which included several putatively novel strains based on the 16S rRNA gene, including a Pedobacter sp. (96% closest similarity in GenBank) which we partially genome sequenced using the MinION. The MAM plate successfully identified an active community capable of L-serine metabolism, which was used for metagenomic sequencing with the MinION to identify the active and enriched community. A metagenome on environmental ice wedge soil samples was completed, with base calling and uplink/downlink carried out via satellite internet. Validation of MinION sequencing using the Illumina MiSeq platform was consistent with the results obtained with the MinION. The instrumentation and technology utilized here is pre-existing, low cost, low mass, low volume, and offers the prospect of equipping micro-rovers and micro-penetrators with aggressive astrobiological capabilities. Since potentially habitable astrobiology targets have been identified (RSLs on Mars, near subsurface water ice on Mars, the plumes and oceans of Europa and Enceladus), future astrobiology missions will certainly target these areas and there is a need for direct life detection instrumentation.

The goal of this study was to isolate, screen, and characterize Arctic microbial isolates from Expedition Fjord, Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut, Canada capable of inhibiting the growth of foodborne and clinically relevant pathogens. Arctic bacteria were isolated from twelve different high Arctic habitats pertaining to active layer permafrost soil, saline spring sediments, lake sediments, and endoliths. This was achieved using (1) the cryo-iPlate, an innovative in situ cultivation device within active layer permafrost soil and (2) bulk plating of Arctic samples by undergraduate students that applied standard culturing methods. To mitigate the possibility of identifying isolates with already-known antibacterial activities, a cell-based dereplication platform was used. Ten out of the twelve Arctic habitats tested were found to yield cold-adapted isolates with antibacterial activity. Eight cold-adapted Arctic isolates were identified with the ability to inhibit the entire dereplication platform, suggesting the possibility of new mechanisms of action. Two promising isolates, initially cultured from perennial saline spring sediments and from active layer permafrost soil ( Paenibacillus sp. GHS.8.NWYW.5 and Pseudomonas sp. AALPS.10.MNAAK.13, respectively), displayed antibacterial activity against foodborne and clinically relevant pathogens. Paenibacillus sp. GHS.8.NWYW.5 was capable of inhibiting methicillin resistant and susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA and MSSA), Listeria monocytogenes , Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli O157:H7. Pseudomonas sp. AALPS.10.MNAAK.13 was observed to have antagonistic activity against MRSA, MSSA, Acinetobacter baumanii , Enterococcus faecium , and Enterococcus faecalis . After whole genome sequencing and mining, the genome of Paenibacillus sp. GHS.8.NWYW.5 was found to contain seven putative secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters that displayed low homology (<50% coverage, <30% identity, and e-values > 0) to clusters identified within the genome of the type strain pertaining to the same species. These findings suggest that cold-adapted Arctic microbes may be a promising source of novel secondary metabolites for potential use in both industrial and medical settings.

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