New approaches to the study of Antarctic lithobiontic microorganisms and their inorganic traces, and their application in the detection of life in Martian rocks

International Microbiology

Volumn 5, Issue 4, 2002, Pages 215-222

  Ascaso, C ^a   Wierzchos, J ^b  

^a INSTITUTO DE CIENCIAS AGRARIAS   (Spain)

^b UNIVERSITY OF LLEIDA   (Spain)

Author keywords

ALH84001; Antarctica; Biomarkers; Cryptoendoliths; Lithobionts; Microbial fossils; Ross Desert

Indexed keywords

INORGANIC COMPOUND;

ANTARCTICA; ASTRONOMY; BIOLOGY; COLD CLIMATE; CRYSTALLIZATION; CYANOBACTERIUM; ELECTRON MICROSCOPY; FOSSIL; ISOLATION AND PURIFICATION; LICHENS; LIFE; MICROBIOLOGY; REVIEW; ULTRASTRUCTURE;

ANTARCTIC REGIONS; COLD CLIMATE; CRYSTALLIZATION; CYANOBACTERIA; ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY; EXOBIOLOGY; FOSSILS; INORGANIC CHEMICALS; LICHENS; LIFE; MARS; METEOROIDS; MICROSCOPY, ELECTRON;

EID: 0036886495     PISSN: 11396709     EISSN: 16181905     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10123-002-0088-6     Document Type: Review

References (28)

1. Ascaso C (2000) Lichens on rock substrates: observation of biomineralization process. In: Schroeter B, Schlensog M, Green TGA (eds) New aspects in cryptogamic research. Contribution in honour of Ludger Kappen. J. Cremer in der Gebrüder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin-Stuttgart, pp 127-135
2. Barker WW, Welch SA, Bannfield JF (1997) Biochemical weathering of silicate minerals. In: Bannfield JF, Nealson KH (eds) Geomicrobiology: Interactions between microbes and minerals. Mineralogical Society of America, Washington, pp 391-428
3. Borg LE, Connelly JN, Nyquist LE, Shih C-Y, Wiesmann H, Reese Y (1999) The age of the carbonates in Martian meteorite ALH84001. Science 286:90-93
4. Brock TD (1987) The study of the microorganisms in situ: progress and problems. In: Fletcher M, Gray TRG, Jones JG (eds) Ecology of microbial communities. Society for General Microbiology, Cambridge, pp 1-17
5. Conrad PG, Nealson KH (2001) A non-Earthcentric approach to life detection. Astrobiology 1:15-24
6. De los Rios A, Ascaso C, Wierzchos J (1999) Study of lichens with different state of hydration by the combination of low temperature scanning electron and confocal laser scanning microscopies. Int Microbiol 2:251-257
7. Fortin D, Ferris FG, Beveridge TJ (1997) Surface-mediated mineral development by bacteria. Rev Mineral 35:161-180
8. Fortin D, Ferris FG (1998) Precipitation of dissolved silica, sulfate and iron on bacterial surfaces. Geomicrobiol J 15:309-324
9. Fortin D, Ferris FG, Scott SD (1998) Formation of Fe-silicates and Fe-oxides on bacterial surfaces in samples collected near hydrothermal vents on the Southern Explorer Ridge in the northeast Pacific Ocean. Am Miner 83:1399-1408
10. Friedmann EI, Ocampo R (1976) Endolithic blue-green algae in the Dry Valleys: primary producers in the Antarctic desert ecosystem. Science 193:1247-1249
11. Friedmann EI, Koriem AM (1989) Life on Mars: how it disappeared (if it was ever there). Adv Space Res 9:167-172
12. Friedmann EI, Druk AY, McKay CP (1994) Limits of life and microbial extinction in the Antarctic desert. Antarctic J US 29:176-179
13. Friedmann EI, Wierzchos J, Ascaso C, Winklhofer M (2001) Chains of magnetite crystals in the meteorite ALH84001: evidence of biological origin. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:2176-2181
14. Golubic SI, Friedmann EI, Schneider J (1981) The lithobiontic ecological niche, with spatial reference to microorganisms. J Sediment Petrol 51:475-478
15. Kennedy AD (1993) Water as limiting factor in the Antarctic terrestrial environment: a biogeographical synthesis. Arctic and Alpine Res 25:308-315
16. McKay CP, Friedmann EI, Wharton RA, Davis WL (1992) History of water on Mars: a bioloeical perspective. Adv Space Res 12:231-238
17. McKay DS, Gibson EK Jr, Thomas-Keprta KL, Vali H, Romanek CS, Clemett SJ, Chillier XDF, Maechling CR, Zare RN (1996) Search for past life on Mars: possible relic biogenic activity in Martian Meteorite ALH84001. Science 273:924-930
18. McKinley JP, Stewens TO, Westall F (2000) Microfossils and paleoenvironments in deep subsurface basalt samples. Geomicrobiol J 17:43-54
19. Nealson KH (1983) The microbial iron cycle. In: Krumbein WE (ed) Microbial geochemistry. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 159-170
20. Thomas-Keprta KL, Bazylinski DA, Kirschvink JL, Clement SJ, McKay DS, Wentworth SJ, Vali H, Gibson EK Jr, Romanek CS (2001) Truncated hexa-octahedral magnetite crystals in ALH84001: presumptive biosignatures. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:2164-2169
21. Warren LA, Ferris FG (1998) Continuum between sorption and precipitation of Fe(III) on bacterial cell surfaces. Environ Sci Technol 32:2331-2337
22. Wierzchos J, Ascaso C (1994) Application of back-scattered electron imaging to the study of the lichen-rock interface. J Microsc 175:54-59
23. Wierzchos J, Ascaso C (1996) Morphological and chemical features of bioweathered granitic biotite induced by lichen activity. Clays Clay Miner 44:652-657
24. Wierzchos J, Ascaso C (1998) Mineralogical transformation of bioweathered granitic biotite studied by HRTEM: evidence for a new pathway in lichen activity. Clays Clay Miner 46:446-452
25. Wierzchos J, Ascaso C (2001) Life, decay and fossilisation of endolithic microorganisms from the Ross Desert, Antarctica: suggestions for in situ further research. Polar Biol 24:863-868
26. Wierzchos J, de los Rios A, Sancho LG, Green A, Ascaso C (2001) Combination of different microscopy techniques for the integrated study of extremophile endolithic microorganisms and their habitats. Proc First Eur Workshop on Exo-Astrobiology, ESA SP-496, pp 405-408
27. Wierzchos J, Ascaso C (2002) Microbial fossil record of rocks from the Ross Desert, Antarctica: implications in the search for past life on Mars. Int J Astrobiology 1:51-59
28. Wierzchos J, Ascaso C, Sancho LG, Green A (2002) Iron-rich diagenetic minerals are biomarkers of microbial activity in Antarctic rocks. Geomicrob J (in press)