Astrobiology最新文献

{"title":"Rosalind Franklin Society Proudly Announces the 2023 Award Recipient for <i>Astrobiology</i>.","authors":"Trishool Namani","doi":"10.1089/ast.2024.67345.rfs2023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2024.67345.rfs2023","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8645,"journal":{"name":"Astrobiology","volume":"24 9","pages":"855"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142340210","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ultraviolet Resistance of Microorganisms Isolated from Uranium-Rich Minerals from Perus, Brazil.","authors":"Bárbara Poletto, Gabriel Gonçalves Silva, Ana Carolina Souza Ramos de Carvalho, Roberta Almeida Vincenzi, Eiji Yamassaki de Almeida, Douglas Galante, Amanda Gonçalves Bendia, Fabio Rodrigues","doi":"10.1089/ast.2022.0125","DOIUrl":"10.1089/ast.2022.0125","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The district of Perus, located in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, is renowned for its weathered granitic-pegmatitic masses, which harbor a significant number of uraniferous minerals that contribute to ionizing radiation levels up to 20 times higher than the background levels. In this study, aseptically collected mineral samples from the area were utilized to isolate 15 microorganisms, which were subjected to pre-screening tests involving UV-C and UV-B radiation. The microorganisms that exhibited the highest resistance to ultraviolet (UV) radiation were selected for the construction of survival curves for UV-C, broad-band UV-B, and solar simulation resistance testing. Subsequently, the four strains that demonstrated superior survival capabilities under UV radiation exposure were chosen for 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Among these, <i>Nocardioides</i> sp. O4R and <i>Nocardioides</i> sp. MA2R demonstrated the most promising outcomes in the UV radiation resistance assessments, showcasing comparable performance to the well-established radioresistant model organism <i>Deinococcus radiodurans</i>. These findings underscore the potential of naturally occurring high-radiation environments as valuable resources for the investigation of UV-resistant microorganisms. Astrobiology 24, 783-794.</p>","PeriodicalId":8645,"journal":{"name":"Astrobiology","volume":" ","pages":"783-794"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141295434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigating Polyextremophilic Bacteria in Al Wahbah Crater, Saudi Arabia: A Terrestrial Model for Life on Saturn's Moon Enceladus.","authors":"Alef Dos Santos, Júnia Schultz, Marilia Almeida Trapp, Fluvio Modolon, Andrii Romanenko, Arun Kumar Jaiswal, Lucas Gomes, Edson Rodrigues-Filho, Alexandre Soares Rosado","doi":"10.1089/ast.2024.0017","DOIUrl":"10.1089/ast.2024.0017","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The study of extremophilic microorganisms has sparked interest in understanding extraterrestrial microbial life. Such organisms are fundamental for investigating life forms on Saturn's icy moons, such as Enceladus, which is characterized by potentially habitable saline and alkaline niches. Our study focused on the salt-alkaline soil of the Al Wahbah crater in Saudi Arabia, where we identified microorganisms that could be used as biological models to understand potential life on Enceladus. The search involved isolating 48 bacterial strains, sequencing the genomes of two thermo-haloalkaliphilic strains, and characterizing them for astrobiological application. A deeper understanding of the genetic composition and functional capabilities of the two novel strains of <i>Halalkalibacterium halodurans</i> provided valuable insights into their survival strategies and the presence of coding genes and pathways related to adaptations to environmental stressors. We also used mass spectrometry with a molecular network approach, highlighting various classes of molecules, such as phospholipids and nonproteinogenic amino acids, as potential biosignatures. These are essential features for understanding life's adaptability under extreme conditions and could be used as targets for biosignatures in upcoming missions exploring Enceladus' orbit. Furthermore, our study reinforces the need to look at new extreme environments on Earth that might contribute to the astrobiology field.</p>","PeriodicalId":8645,"journal":{"name":"Astrobiology","volume":"24 8","pages":"824-838"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142003500","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biosignature Molecules Accumulate and Persist in Evaporitic Brines: Implications for Planetary Exploration.","authors":"Chad Pozarycki, Kenneth M Seaton, Emily C Vincent, Carlie Novak Sanders, Nickie Nuñez, Mariah Castillo, Ellery Ingall, Benjamin Klempay, Alexandra Pontefract, Luke A Fisher, Emily R Paris, Steffen Buessecker, Nikolas B Alansson, Christopher E Carr, Peter T Doran, Jeff S Bowman, Britney E Schmidt, Amanda M Stockton","doi":"10.1089/ast.2023.0122","DOIUrl":"10.1089/ast.2023.0122","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The abundance of potentially habitable hypersaline environments in our solar system compels us to understand the impacts of high-salt matrices and brine dynamics on biosignature detection efforts. We identified and quantified organic compounds in brines from South Bay Salt Works (SBSW), where evapoconcentration of ocean water enables exploration of the impact of NaCl- and MgCl₂-dominated brines on the detection of potential biosignature molecules. In SBSW, organic biosignature abundance and distribution are likely influenced by evapoconcentration, osmolyte accumulation, and preservation effects. Bioluminescence assays show that adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentrations are higher in NaCl-rich, low water activity (<i>a</i>_w) samples (<0.85) from SBSW. This is consistent with the accumulation and preservation of ATP at low <i>a</i>_w as described in past laboratory studies. The water-soluble small organic molecule inventory was determined by using microchip capillary electrophoresis paired with high-resolution mass spectrometry (µCE-HRMS). We analyzed the relative distribution of proteinogenic amino acids with a recently developed quantitative method using CE-separation and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection of amino acids in hypersaline brines. Salinity trends for dissolved free amino acids were consistent with amino acid residue abundance determined from the proteome of the microbial community predicted from metagenomic data. This highlights a tangible connection up and down the \"-omics\" ladder across changing geochemical conditions. The detection of water-soluble organic compounds, specifically proteinogenic amino acids at high abundance (>7 mM) in concentrated brines, demonstrates that potential organic biomarkers accumulate at hypersaline sites and suggests the possibility of long-term preservation. The detection of such molecules in high abundance when using diverse analytical tools appropriate for spacecraft suggests that life detection within hypersaline environments, such as evaporates on Mars and the surface or subsurface brines of ocean world Europa, is plausible and argues such environments should be a high priority for future exploration. Key Words: Salts-Analytical chemistry-Amino acids-Biosignatures-Capillary electrophoresis-Preservation. Astrobiology 24, 795-812.</p>","PeriodicalId":8645,"journal":{"name":"Astrobiology","volume":"24 8","pages":"795-812"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12344115/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142003497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Astrobiological Potential of the Uranian Moon System.","authors":"Jessica M Weber, Erin J Leonard","doi":"10.1089/ast.2024.0045","DOIUrl":"10.1089/ast.2024.0045","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The 2023-2032 Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey prioritized the Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP) mission concept as the next priority flagship mission. The UOP concept includes scientific studies of the Uranian moon system. Although the Uranian moons differ greatly from the ocean worlds in the Jovian and Saturnian systems, the emerging hypothesis is that some of them could at least sustain thin, potentially concentrated, oceans. Herein, we make a case that these moons are important and interesting targets of astrobiological research. Studying these worlds would provide critical astrobiological data related to their habitability, including origin, evolution, and potential death, as well as the formation and evolution of ocean worlds more broadly. There is a strong need for research that connects astrobiology to modeling and experimentation to better characterize the possible conditions of these worlds, and this will be critical in formulating and maximizing the potential science that could be done by a Uranus flagship mission.</p>","PeriodicalId":8645,"journal":{"name":"Astrobiology","volume":"24 8","pages":"839-844"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142003501","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Bayesian Analysis of the Probability of the Origin of Life Per Site Conducive to Abiogenesis.","authors":"Manasvi Lingam, Ruth Nichols, Amedeo Balbi","doi":"10.1089/ast.2024.0037","DOIUrl":"10.1089/ast.2024.0037","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The emergence of life from nonlife, or abiogenesis, remains a fundamental question in scientific inquiry. In this article, we investigate the probability of the origin of life (per conducive site) by leveraging insights from Earth's environments. If life originated endogenously on Earth, its existence is indeed endowed with informative value, although the interpretation of the attendant significance hinges critically upon prior assumptions. By adopting a Bayesian framework, for an agnostic prior, we establish a direct connection between the number of potential locations for abiogenesis on Earth and the probability of life's emergence per site. Our findings suggest that constraints on the availability of suitable environments for the origin(s) of life on Earth may offer valuable insights into the probability of abiogenesis and the frequency of life in the universe.</p>","PeriodicalId":8645,"journal":{"name":"Astrobiology","volume":"24 8","pages":"813-823"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142003496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In Memoriam: David Hochberg February 3, 1957-December 30, 2023.","authors":"Celia Blanco, Thomas Buhse, Pedro Cintas, Isabel Herreros, Jean-Claude Micheau, Federico Morán, Juan Pérez-Mercader, Josep M Ribó, Michael Stich, Cristóbal Viedma","doi":"10.1089/ast.2024.0030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2024.0030","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8645,"journal":{"name":"Astrobiology","volume":"24 8","pages":"765-766"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142003499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating Pigments as a Biosignature: Abiotic/Prebiotic Synthesis of Pigments and Pigment Mimics in Planetary Environments.","authors":"Laura E Rodriguez, Jessica M Weber, Laura M Barge","doi":"10.1089/ast.2023.0006","DOIUrl":"10.1089/ast.2023.0006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pigments serve a multitude of functions in biology including light harvesting for photosynthesis, radiation protection, membrane support, and defense. The ubiquity of pigments-especially within extremophiles found in high-radiation, high-salinity, and dry environments-and their detectability via mission-ready techniques have elevated these molecules as promising targets in the search for evidence of life elsewhere. Moreover, the detection of pigments has been proposed as a \"smoking gun\" for extraterrestrial life as it has been suggested that these molecules cannot be generated abiotically. However, while pigments may hold promise as a biosignature, current understanding of their possible prebiotic origins remains understudied and uncertain. Better understanding of the abiotic synthesis of pigments is critical for evaluating the biogenicity of any pigment detected during missions, including by the Mars Perseverance rover or from returned samples. Compounding this uncertainty is the broad definition of pigment as it includes any compound capable of absorbing visible light and by itself does not specify a particular chemical motif. While not experimentally verified, there are promising prebiotic routes for generating pigments including hemes, chlorophylls, and carotenoids. Herein, we review the biochemistry of pigments, the inherent assumptions made when searching for these molecules in the field, their abiotic synthesis in industry and prebiotic reactions, prebiotically relevant molecules that can mimic their spectral signatures, and implications/recommendations for future work.</p>","PeriodicalId":8645,"journal":{"name":"Astrobiology","volume":" ","pages":"767-782"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141070515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exoplanet Innovators Interview: Sara Seager Interviews Dave Charbonneau.","authors":"Sara Seager","doi":"10.1089/ast.2024.0101","DOIUrl":"10.1089/ast.2024.0101","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8645,"journal":{"name":"Astrobiology","volume":"24 8","pages":"845-854"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142003498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Life Detection on Icy Moons Using Flow Cytometry and Intrinsically Fluorescent Biomolecules.","authors":"Matthew L Wallace, Nicholas Tallarida, Wayne W Schubert, James Lambert","doi":"10.1089/ast.2023.0050","DOIUrl":"10.1089/ast.2023.0050","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In a previous experiment, we demonstrated the capability of flow cytometry as a potential life detection technology for icy moons using exogenous fluorescent stains (Wallace et al., 2023). In this companion experiment, we demonstrated the capability of flow cytometry to detect life using intrinsically fluorescent biomolecules in addition to exogenous stains. We used a method similar to our previous work to positively identify six classes of intrinsically fluorescent biomolecules: flavins, carotenoids, chlorophyll, tryptophan, NAD+, and NAD(P)H. We demonstrated the effectiveness of this method with six known organisms and known abiotic material and showed that the cytometer is easily able to distinguish the known organisms and the known abiotic material by using the intrinsic fluorescence of these six biomolecules. To simulate a life detection experiment on an icy moon lander, we used six natural samples with unknown biotic and abiotic content. We showed that flow cytometry can identify all six intrinsically fluorescent biomolecules and can separate the biotic material from the known abiotic material on scatter plots. The use of intrinsically fluorescent biomolecules in addition to exogenous stains will potentially cast a wider net for life detection on icy moons using flow cytometry.</p>","PeriodicalId":8645,"journal":{"name":"Astrobiology","volume":"24 7","pages":"710-720"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141632511","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}