Magnesium sulphate salts and the history of water on Mars

Vaniman, D. T.; Bish, David L.; Chipera, S. J.; Fialips, Claire I.; Carey, J. William; Feldman, W. C.

doi:10.1038/nature02973

Cited by 275 publications

(281 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The Martian atmosphere consists mostly of CO 2 and smaller amounts of N 2 , H 2 , O 2 , CH 4 , CO, and H 2 O (48). The Martian soil contains mainly sulfates, manganese, and iron compounds (13,46). Nevertheless, since these media are appropriate for metabolic specialists only, we have also used nutrient-rich media to cover anaerobically growing and fermenting microorganisms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultivation of Anaerobic and Facultatively Anaerobic Bacteria from Spacecraft-Associated Clean Rooms

Stieglmeier

Wirth²,

Kminek

et al. 2009

Appl Environ Microbiol

100

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In the course of this biodiversity study, the cultivable microbial community of European spacecraft-associated clean rooms and the Herschel Space Observatory located therein were analyzed during routine assembly operations. Here, we focused on microorganisms capable of growing without oxygen. Anaerobes play a significant role in planetary protection considerations since extraterrestrial environments like Mars probably do not provide enough oxygen for fully aerobic microbial growth. A broad assortment of anaerobic media was used in our cultivation strategies, which focused on microorganisms with special metabolic skills. The majority of the isolated strains grew on anaerobic, complex, nutrient-rich media. Autotrophic microorganisms or microbes capable of fixing nitrogen were also cultivated. A broad range of facultatively anaerobic bacteria was detected during this study and also, for the first time, some strictly anaerobic bacteria (Clostridium and Propionibacterium) were isolated from spacecraft-associated clean rooms. The multiassay cultivation approach was the basis for the detection of several bacteria that had not been cultivated from these special environments before and also led to the discovery of two novel microbial species of Pseudomonas and Paenibacillus.The major issue of planetary protection is to prevent the contamination of extraterrestrial environments by terrestrial biomolecules and life forms. Furthermore, reverse contamination of Earth by extraterrestrial material is also a fundamental concern (1). In order not to affect or even to confound future life detection missions on celestial bodies, which are of interest for their chemical and biological evolution, spacecraft are constructed in so-called clean rooms and are subject to severe cleaning processes and microbiological controls before launch (9). Therefore, these clean rooms are considered extreme environments for microorganisms (47).Detailed planetary protection protocols for missions to Mars were designed for the Viking missions, which were launched in 1975, and about 7,000 samples were taken from the two Viking spacecraft during prelaunch activities in order to determine the cultivable microbial load (37). Besides human-associated bacteria (pathogens and opportunistic pathogens), which were predominant among the microbes detected in these samples, aerobic spore-forming microorganisms (Bacillus) were found frequently on spacecraft and within the facilities.Spores are the resting states of bacteria and are often highly resistant to heat, desiccation, and other abiotic stresses. These multiresistance properties of such spore-forming microorganisms make them perfect candidates for surviving a space flight, and thus, the main focus of attention has been on them. Furthermore, only the detection of aerobic spore-forming bacteria is currently included in space agencies' planetary protection protocols for the quantitative determination of microbial burden on spacecraft.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultivation of Anaerobic and Facultatively Anaerobic Bacteria from Spacecraft-Associated Clean Rooms

Stieglmeier

Wirth²,

Kminek

et al. 2009

Appl Environ Microbiol

100

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“…Indeed, Martian regolith has high presence of different types of salts and evaporitic minerals i.e. formed by the evaporation from bodies of water (Vaniman et al 2004;Ewing et al 2006) and they have been detected on Mars both in situ and remotely by different monitoring instruments (Wadsworth & Cockell 2017). The controversy about their effects on the habitability of that planet is still under research.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme salinity as a challenge to grow potatoes under Mars-like soil conditions: targeting promising genotypes

Ramírez

Kreuze

Amorós

et al. 2017

International Journal of Astrobiology

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One of the future challenges to produce food in a Mars environment will be the optimization of resources through the potential use of the Martian substratum for growing crops as a part of bioregenerative food systems. In vitro plantlets from 65 potato genotypes were rooted in peat-pellets substratum and transplanted in pots filled with Mars-like soil from La Joya desert in Southern Peru. The Mars-like soil was characterized by extreme salinity (an electric conductivity of 19.3 and 52.6 dS m −1 under 1 : 1 and saturation extract of the soil solution, respectively) and plants grown in it were under sub-optimum physiological status indicated by average maximum stomatal conductance <50 mmol H 2 O m −2 s −1 even after irrigation. 40% of the genotypes survived and yielded (0.3-5.2 g tuber plant −1 ) where CIP.397099.4, CIP.396311.1 and CIP.390478.9 were targeted as promising materials with 9.3, 8.9 and 5.8% of fresh tuber yield in relation to the control conditions. A combination of appropriate genotypes and soil management will be crucial to withstand extreme salinity, a problem also important in agriculture on Earth that requires more detailed follow-up studies.

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“…Bacteria were grown in all possible combinations of three salts (MgSO 4 , MgCl 2 , and NaCl), four salt concentrations (0, 5, 10, or 20%), and four temperatures (5, 10, 20, or 30°C) to study the interactive effects of salt and temperature on bacterial survival and growth. Salts were selected based on published literature identifying MgSO 4 , MgCl 2 , and NaCl on Mars (8,55). Cultures were prepared in 5 ml sterile mLB broth containing each of the salts at each of the concentrations and incubated at each temperature.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Simulated Mars Conditions on the Survival and Growth of Escherichia coli and Serratia liquefaciens

Berry

Jenkins

Schuerger

2010

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Escherichia coli and Serratia liquefaciens, two bacterial spacecraft contaminants known to replicate under low atmospheric pressures of 2.5 kPa, were tested for growth and survival under simulated Mars conditions. Environmental stresses of high salinity, low temperature, and low pressure were screened alone and in combination for effects on bacterial survival and replication, and then cells were tested in Mars analog soils under simulated Mars conditions. Survival and replication of E. coli and S. liquefaciens cells in liquid medium were evaluated for 7 days under low temperatures (5, 10, 20, or 30°C) with increasing concentrations (0, 5, 10, or 20%) of three salts (MgCl 2 , MgSO 4 , NaCl) reported to be present on the surface of Mars. Moderate to high growth rates were observed for E. coli and S. liquefaciens at 30 or 20°C and in solutions with 0 or 5% salts. In contrast, cell densities of both species generally did not increase above initial inoculum levels under the highest salt concentrations (10 and 20%) and the four temperatures tested, with the exception that moderately higher cell densities were observed for both species at 10% MgSO 4 maintained at 20 or 30°C. Growth rates of E. coli and S. liquefaciens in low salt concentrations were robust under all pressures (2.5, 10, or 101.3 kPa), exhibiting a general increase of up to 2.5 orders of magnitude above the initial inoculum levels of the assays. Vegetative E. coli cells were maintained in a Mars analog soil for 7 days under simulated Mars conditions that included temperatures between 20 and ؊50°C for a day/night diurnal period, UVC irradiation (200 to 280 nm) at 3.6 W m ؊2 for daytime operations (8 h), pressures held at a constant 0.71 kPa, and a gas composition that included the top five gases found in the martian atmosphere. Cell densities of E. coli failed to increase under simulated Mars conditions, and survival was reduced 1 to 2 orders of magnitude by the interactive effects of desiccation, UV irradiation, high salinity, and low pressure (in decreasing order of importance). Results suggest that E. coli may be able to survive, but not grow, in surficial soils on Mars.The search for extant life on Mars remains a stated goal of NASA's Mars Exploration Program and Astrobiology Institutes (13,17). Intrinsic within such a life detection strategy is a requirement to understand how terrestrial life might survive, replicate, and proliferate on Mars. To mitigate the risks of the forward contamination of Mars, the bioloads on spacecrafts targeted for landing must be reduced to low density and diversity (4, 7). Planetary protection guidelines are designed to prevent both the forward contamination of the martian surface and to ensure the scientific integrity of any deployed life detection experiments. To date, 12 spacecraft have landed or crashed onto the Mars surface as a result of U.S., Russian, and European space program missions, but it is currently unknown if terrestrial microorganisms typically found on spacecraft surfaces can grow and replicate under con...

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Magnesium sulphate salts and the history of water on Mars

Cited by 275 publications

References 17 publications

Cultivation of Anaerobic and Facultatively Anaerobic Bacteria from Spacecraft-Associated Clean Rooms

Cultivation of Anaerobic and Facultatively Anaerobic Bacteria from Spacecraft-Associated Clean Rooms

Extreme salinity as a challenge to grow potatoes under Mars-like soil conditions: targeting promising genotypes

Effects of Simulated Mars Conditions on the Survival and Growth of Escherichia coli and Serratia liquefaciens

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