Antarctic fungi survive Martian conditions
11 Feb 2016 by Evoluted New Media
Antarctic fungi have spent 18 months on the ISS, managing to survive under Mars-like conditions.
Antarctic fungi have spent 18 months on the ISS, managing to survive under Mars-like conditions.
More than 60% of endolithic – rock living - fungi Cryomyces antarcticus’ and Cryomyces minteri’s cells remained intact, and their DNA remained stable, say researchers involved in the Lichens and Fungi Experiment (LIFE).
Project co-researcher, Rosa de la Torre Noetzel, from the Spanish National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA), said: “The results help to assess the survival ability and long-term stability of microorganisms and bioindicators on the surface of Mars, information which becomes fundamental and relevant for future experiments centred around the search for life on the red planet.”
The fungi were exposed to an atmosphere comprised of very high levels of CO2 and low amounts of argon, nitrogen and oxygen. They were also subjected to UV radiation with a wavelength higher than 200nm inside special compartments on the EXPOSE-E platform developed by European Space Agency scientists.
Dr De la Torre, said: “The most relevant outcome was that more than 60% of the cells of the endolithic communities studied remained intact after 'exposure to Mars', or rather, the stability of their cellular DNA was still high.”
Lichens collected from Spain and the Austrian alps - Rhizocarpon geographicum and Xanthoria elegans were also exposed to a different set of Mars-like and space conditions - temperatures ranging between -21.5 and +59.6 ºC, galactic-cosmic radiation of up to 190 megagrays, and a vacuum of between 10-7 to 10-4 pascals. The lichens under Mars-like conditions showed double the metabolic activity of those exposed to space conditions. In the case of Xanthoria elegans it reached 80%.
The research can be found on Research Gate.
