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Biofilms Confer Resistance to Simulated Extra-terrestrial Geochemical Extremes

View ORCID ProfileAdam H. Stevens, Delma Childers, Mark Fox-Powell, Charles S. Cockell
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/099374
Adam H. Stevens
1UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, UK
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  • For correspondence: adam.stevens@ed.ac.uk
Delma Childers
1UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, UK
2MRC Centre for Medical Mycology at the University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen Fungal Group, Institute of Medical Sciences, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, UK
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Mark Fox-Powell
1UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, UK
3Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St. Andrews, UK
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Charles S. Cockell
1UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, UK
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1 Abstract

Biofilms improve microbes’ resistance to a variety of extreme physical and chemical conditions on Earth. The discovery of putative aqueous environments on other planetary bodies such as Mars motivates an interest in understanding the viability of life, and the potential role of biofilms, in previously unexplored geochemical extremes. We investigated the loss of viability of planktonic cells and biofilms of Sphingomonas desiccabilis (a Gram-negative, desiccation resistant, soil crust-forming organism) to simulated Martian brines. These brines were produced from geochemical modelling of past aqueous environments on Mars, and their high sulfate concentrations make them different to most terrestrial brines, although similar briny environments have been found in locations such as the Basque Lakes in Canada or in deep subsurface groundwater systems. Biofilms grown on basaltic scoria were subjected to the simulated martian brines and the viability of cells was measured over time and compared to equivalent planktonic cultures. Crystal violet assay was used to measure how the biomass of the biofilms changed over time in response to the brines. While certain brines were highly hostile to microbial viability, we found that biofilms that were desiccated prior to being treated with brines maintained viability over a longer treatment period when compared to planktonic cells. Our results show that biofilms confer short-term protection to the harsh osmotic, ionic, and acidic conditions of Mars-relevant brines. However, in the most extreme simulated brines, even biofilms eventually lost viability. By demonstrating that biofilms confer protection to conditions that are potentially analogous to current day recurrent slope lineae (thought to be produced by the flow of briny fluids) on Mars, our results show that contaminant biofilm-forming microorganisms may have a greater chance of surviving in so-called ‘Special Regions’ on Mars, with implications for planetary protection in missions that aim to explore these regions.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted January 10, 2017.
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Biofilms Confer Resistance to Simulated Extra-terrestrial Geochemical Extremes
Adam H. Stevens, Delma Childers, Mark Fox-Powell, Charles S. Cockell
bioRxiv 099374; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/099374
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Biofilms Confer Resistance to Simulated Extra-terrestrial Geochemical Extremes
Adam H. Stevens, Delma Childers, Mark Fox-Powell, Charles S. Cockell
bioRxiv 099374; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/099374

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