Discovery of abundant cellulose microfibers encased in 250 Ma permian halite: A macromolecular target in the search for life on other planets

Astrobiology

Volumn 8, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 215-228

  Griffith, Jack D ^a   Willcox, Smaranda ^a   Powers, Dennis W ^b   Nelson, Roger ^c   Baxter, Bonnie K ^d  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA   (United States)

^b The University of Mississippi   (United States)

^c U S DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY   (United States)

^d WESTMINSTER COLLEGE   (United States)

Author keywords

Cellulose; Electron microscopy; Permian halite

Indexed keywords

CELLULOSE; SODIUM CHLORIDE;

ASTRONOMY; BIOGENESIS; BIOLOGY; CHEMISTRY; CONFERENCE PAPER; CRYSTALLIZATION; ELECTRON MICROSCOPY; ISOLATION AND PURIFICATION; PALEONTOLOGY; ULTRASTRUCTURE; UNITED STATES;

BIOGENESIS; CELLULOSE; CRYSTALLIZATION; EXOBIOLOGY; MICROSCOPY, ELECTRON; NEW MEXICO; PALEONTOLOGY; PLANETS; SODIUM CHLORIDE;

EID: 42049107700     PISSN: 15311074     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1089/ast.2007.0196     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (46)

1. Beauheim, R.L. and Roberts, R.M. (2002) Hydrology and hydraulic properties of a bedded evaporite formation. Journal of Hydrology 259, 66-88.
2. Benison, K.C. (2006) A martian analog in Kansas: comparing martian strata with Permian acid saline lake deposits. Geology 34 385-388.
3. Benison, K.C. and Goldstein, R.H. (2000) Sedimentology of ancient saline pans: an example from the Permian Opeche Shale, Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA. Journal of Sedimentary Research 70, 159-169.
4. Benison, K.C., Goldstein, R.H., Wopenka, B., Burruss, R.C., and Pasteris, J.D. (1998) Extremely acid Permian lakes and ground waters in North America. Nature 392, 911-914.
5. Cano, R.J. and Borucki, M.K. (1995) Revival and identification of bacterial spores in 25- to 40-million-year-old Dominican amber. Science 268, 1060-1064.
6. Casas, E. and Lowenstein, T.K. (1989) Diagenesis of saline pan halite: comparison of petrographic features of modern, Quaternary and Permian halite. J. Sediment Petrol. 59, 724-739.
7. Cox, P.M., Betts, R.A., Jones, C.D., Spall, S.A., and Totterdell, I.J. (2000) Acceleration of global warming due to carbon-cycle feedbacks in a coupled climate model. Nature 408, 184-187.
8. Fish, S.A., Shepherd, T.J., McGenity, T.J., and Grant, W.D. (2002) Recovery of 16S ribosomal RNA gene fragments from ancient halite. Nature 420, 432-436.
9. Greenblatt, C.L., Davis, A., Clement, B.G., Kitts, C.L., Cox, T., and Cano, R.J. (1999) Diversity of microorganisms isolated from amber. Microb. Ecol. 38 58-68.
10. Griffith, J.D. and Christiansen, G. (1978) Electron microscope visualization of chromatin and other DNA-protein complexes. Annu. Rev. Biophys. Bioeng. 7, 19-35.
11. Hazen, R.M. and Roedder, E. (2001) How old are bacteria from the Permian age? Nature 411, 155.
12. Holt, R.M. and Powers, D.W. (1984) Geotechnical activities in the waste handling shaft, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) project, southeastern New Mexico: WTSD-TME 038, Department of Energy, Carlsbad, NM.
13. Holt, R.M. and Powers, D.W. (1986) Geotechnical activities in the exhaust shaft, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: DOE-WIPP 86-008, Department of Energy, Carlsbad, NM.
14. Holt, R.M. and Powers, D.W. (1990a) Geotechnical activities in the air intake shaft (AIS): DOE/WIPP 90-051, U.S. Department of Energy, Carlsbad, NM.
15. Holt R.M. and Powers D.W. (1990b) Halite sequences within the Late Permian Salado Formation in the vicinity of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. In Geological and Hydrological Studies of Evaporites in the Northern Delaware Basin for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP): Guidebook 14, edited by D.W. Powers, R.M. Holt, R.L. Beauheim, and N. Rempe, The Geological Society of America (Dallas Geological Society), Boulder, CO, pp 45-78.
16. Jahren, A.H. and Sternberg, L.S.L. (2003) Humidity estimate for the middle Eocene Arctic rain forest. Geology 31, 463-166.
17. Kminek, G. and Bada, J.L. (2006) The effect of ionizing radiation on the preservation of amino acids on Mars. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 245, 1-5.
18. Kminek, G., Bada, J.L., Pogliano, K., and Ward, J.F. (2003) Radiation-dependent limit for the viability of bacterial spores in halite fluid inclusions and on Mars. Radiat. Res. 159, 722-729.
19. Kvien, I., Tanem, B.S., and Oksman, K. (2005) Characterization of cellulose whiskers and their nanocomposites by atomic force and electron microscopy. Biomacromolecules 6, 3160-3165.
20. Losey, A.B. and Benison, K.C. (2000) Silurian paleoclimate data from fluid inclusions in the Salina Group halite, Michigan Basin. Carbonates and Evaporites 15, 28-36.
21. Lowenstein, T.K. (1988) Origin of depositional cycles in a Permian "saline giant:" The Salado (McNutt zone) evaporites of New Mexico and Texas. Geological Society of America Bulletin 100, 592-608.
22. Lowenstein, T.K., and Hardie, L.A. (1985) Criteria for the recognition of salt-pan evaporites. Sedimentology 32, 627-644.
23. Mormile, M.R., Biesen, M.A., Gutierrez, M.C., Ventosa, A., Pavlovich, J.B., Onstott, T.C., and Fredrickson, J.K. (2003) Isolation of Halobacterium salinarum retrieved directly from halite brine inclusions. Environ. Microbiol. 5, 1094-1102.
24. Mundil, R., Ludwig, K.R., Metcalfe, I., and Renne, P.R. (2004) Age and timing of the Permian mass extinctions, U/Pb dating of closed-system zircons. Science 305, 1760-1763.
25. Nicastro, A.J., Vreeland, R.H., and Rosenzweig, W.D. (2002) Limits imposed by ionizing radiation on the long-term survival of trapped bacterial spores: beta radiation. Int. J. Radiat. Biol. 78, 891-901.
26. Nobles, D.R., Romanovicz, D.K., and Brown, R.M., Jr. (2001) Cellulose in cyanobacteria: origin of vascular plant cellulose synthase? Plant Physiol. 127, 529-542.
27. Norton, C.F. and Grant, W.D. (1988) Survival of halobacteria within fluid inclusions in salt crystals. J. Gen. Microbiol. 134, 1365-1373.
28. Okuda, K., Kudlicka, K., Kuga, S., and Brown, R.M., Jr. (1993) [beta]-Glucan synthesis in the cotton fiber (I. Identification of [beta]-1,4- and [beta]-1,3-Glucans synthesized in vitro). Plant Physiol. 101, 1131-1142.
29. O'Neill, J.R., Johnson, C.M., White, L.D., and Roedder, E. (1986) The origin of fluid in the salt beds of the Delaware Basin, New Mexico and Texas. Appl. Geochem. 1, 265-271.
30. Powers, D.W. and Hassinger, B.W. (1985) Synsedimentary dissolution pits in halite of the Permian Salado Formation, southeastern New Mexico. J. Sediment. Petrol. 55, 769-773.
31. Powers, D.W., Vreeland, R.H., and Rosenzweig, W.D. (2001) How old are bacteria from the Permian age? Nature 411, 155-156.
32. 39Ar dating of Late Permian evaporites, southeastern New Mexico, USA. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 193, 539-547.
33. Roberts, S.M. and Spencer, R.J. (1995) Paleotemperatures preserved in fluid inclusions in halite. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 59, 3929-3942.
34. Roedder, E. (1984) The fluids in salt. Am. Mineral. 69, 413-439.
35. Rosenzweig, W.D., Peterson, J., Woish, J., and Vreeland, R.H., (2000) Development of a protocol to retrieve microorganisms from ancient salt crystals. Geomicrobiol. J. 17, 185-192.
36. Satterfield, C.L., Lowenstein, T.K., Vreeland, R.H., Rosenzweig, W.D., and Powers, D.W. (2005a) New evidence for 250 million-year age of halotolerant bacterium from a Permian salt crystal. Geology 33, 265-268.
37. Satterfield, C.L., Lowenstein, T.K., Vreeland, R.H., and Rosenzweig, W.D. (2005b) Paleobrine temperatures, chemistries, and paleoenvironments of Silurian Salina Formation F-I salt, Michigan Basin, U.S.A., from petrography and fluid inclusions in halite. Journal of Sedimentary Research 75 534-546.
38. Schaller, W.T. and Henderson, E.P. (1932) Mineralogy of Drill Cores from the Potash Field of New Mexico and Texas, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 833, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.
39. Schroeder, G.K., Lad, C., Wyman, P., Williams, N.H., and Wolfenden, R. (2006) The time required for water attack at the phosphorus atom of simple phosphodiesters and of DNA. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103, 4052-4055.
40. Schubert, B.A., Lowenstein, T.K., Timofeeff, M.N., Parker, M.A., Vreeland, R.H. (2005) Long-term survival of microorganisms and DNA preserved in halites, Death Valley salt core, California. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 37, 124.
41. Schweitzer, M.H., Suo, Z., Avci, R., Asara, J.M., Allen, M.A., Arce, F.T., and Horner, J.R. (2007) Analyses of soft tissue from Tyrannosaurus rex suggest the presence of protein. Science 316, 277-280.
42. Shearman, D.J. (1970) Recent halite rock, Baja California, Mexico. Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Transactions 79, 155-170.
43. Stein, C.L. and Krumhansl, J.L. (1988) A model for the evolution of brines in salt from the lower Salado Formation, southeastern New Mexico. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 52, 1037-1046.
44. Timofeeff, M.N., Lowenstein, T.K., Parker, M.A., Satterfield, C.L., Schubert, B.A., and Vreeland, R.H. (2005) Preservation of halophilic microorganisms in halite fluid inclusions, Saline Valley, California. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 37, 123-124.
45. Vreeland, R.H., Piselli, A.F., Jr., McDonnough, S., and Meyers, S.S. (1998) Distribution and diversity of halophilic bacteria in a subsurface salt formation. Extremophiles 2, 321-331.
46. Vreeland, R.H., Rosenzweig, W.D., and Powers, D.W. (2000) Isolation of a 250 million-year-old halotolerant bacterium from a primary salt crystal. Nature 407, 897-900.