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34150f2f89a55de66712a0576f106400 |
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Creator |
7c9060b8651fa54e11ffd46d3aba6da8 |
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bd12e480200a0e58504d6106bfed3c8a |
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0519c7e3d5b481315278655a3c8c63cf |
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95f68b10fb49eec7b7d3b7db9817decc |
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Date |
2017 |
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Is Part Of |
repository |
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abstract |
There is evidence that water may currently exist on Mars as brines. The chemistries
of these brines will be greatly influenced by the local lithologies, which would,
in turn, impact on the organisms that could potentially live within them. We have
previously developed four geological simulants for Mars: a global composition, an
early and unaltered basaltic composition, a sulfur-rich composition, and a haematite-rich
composition. Thermochemical modelling was used to determine the composition of brines
associated with the alteration of the simulants under Mars-analog conditions. In this
study, we assess whether microbial life would grow in these brines under martian simulated
conditions.
<br></br><br></br>The organisms used in these growth experiments were selected to
represent a broad range of metabolic capabilities with relevance to Mars: They include
methanogenic archaea (<i>Methanosarcina soligelidi, Methanobacterium arcticum</i>
and <i>Methanothermococcus thermolithotrophicus</i>), as biotic processes are a potential
source of methane in the martian atmosphere. Additional organisms were species of
iron reducing bacteria (<i>Desulfosporomusa polytropa</i>), due to the presence of
iron oxides on Mars and the high amount of Fe<sup>3+</sup> in haematite; iron oxidising
bacteria (<i>Acidovorax</i> sp. BoFeN1), due to the high presence of Fe<sup>2+</sup>;
and sulphate reducing bacteria (<i>Desulfomicrobium macestii</i>), due to the high
sulfur content of Paso Robles. We will present details of the impact of the martian
simulants on the growth and metabolism of the selected strains, which gives insight
into habitability on early Mars. |
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authorList |
authors |
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presentedAt |
ext-6407ce4fecc67249e6c35ab5bc067961 |
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status |
peerReviewed |
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type |
AcademicArticle |
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type |
Article |
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label |
Macey, Michael C. ; Ramkissoon, Nisha K. ; Schwenzer, Susanne P. ; Pearson, Victoria
K. and Olsson-Francis, Karen (2017). The impact of martian brine chemistry on the
growth of microorganisms. In: 1st British Planetary Science Congress, 3-5 Dec 2017,
Glasgow. |
62332 |
label |
Macey, Michael C. ; Ramkissoon, Nisha K. ; Schwenzer, Susanne P. ; Pearson, Victoria
K. and Olsson-Francis, Karen (2017). The impact of martian brine chemistry on the
growth of microorganisms. In: 1st British Planetary Science Congress, 3-5 Dec 2017,
Glasgow. |
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Title |
The impact of martian brine chemistry on the growth of microorganisms |
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in dataset |
oro |