Life Detection on Icy Moons Using Flow Cytometry and Exogenous Fluorescent Stains.

IF 3.5 3区物理与天体物理 Q2 ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS

Astrobiology Pub Date : 2023-10-01 Epub Date: 2023-09-06 DOI:10.1089/ast.2023.0016

Matthew L Wallace, Nicholas Tallarida, Wayne W Schubert, James Lambert

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Abstract

Flow cytometry is a potential technology for in situ life detection on icy moons (such as Enceladus and Europa) and on the polar ice caps of Mars. We developed a method for using flow cytometry to positively identify four classes of biomarkers using exogenous fluorescent stains: nucleic acids, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids. We demonstrated the effectiveness of exogenous stains with six known organisms and known abiotic material and showed that the cytometer is easily able to distinguish between the known organisms and the known abiotic material using the exogenous stains. To simulate a life-detection experiment on an icy world lander, we used six natural samples with unknown biotic and abiotic content. We showed that flow cytometry can identify all four biomarkers using the exogenous stains and can separate the biotic material from the known abiotic material on scatter plots. Exogenous staining techniques would likely be used in conjunction with intrinsic fluorescence, clustering, and sorting for a more complete and capable life-detection instrument on an icy moon lander.

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流式细胞术和外源性荧光染色法检测结冰月球的生命。

流式细胞术是一种潜在的技术，可以在结冰的卫星（如土卫二和木卫二）和火星极地冰盖上原位检测生命。我们开发了一种使用流式细胞术的方法，使用外源荧光染色阳性鉴定四类生物标志物：核酸、蛋白质、碳水化合物和脂质。我们用六种已知的生物体和已知的非生物材料证明了外源性染色的有效性，并表明细胞仪能够使用外源性染色容易地区分已知生物体和已知非生物材料。为了模拟结冰世界着陆器上的生命探测实验，我们使用了六个未知生物和非生物含量的自然样本。我们表明，流式细胞术可以使用外源染色识别所有四种生物标志物，并可以在散点图上从已知的非生物物质中分离出生物物质。外源染色技术可能与内在荧光、聚类和分类相结合，在冰冷的月球着陆器上实现更完整、更有效的生命探测仪器。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Astrobiology 生物-地球科学综合

CiteScore

7.70

自引率

11.90%

发文量

100

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： Astrobiology is the most-cited peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the understanding of life''s origin, evolution, and distribution in the universe, with a focus on new findings and discoveries from interplanetary exploration and laboratory research. Astrobiology coverage includes: Astrophysics; Astropaleontology; Astroplanets; Bioastronomy; Cosmochemistry; Ecogenomics; Exobiology; Extremophiles; Geomicrobiology; Gravitational biology; Life detection technology; Meteoritics; Planetary geoscience; Planetary protection; Prebiotic chemistry; Space exploration technology; Terraforming