Mars Tolerant Antarctic Fungi Survive on International Space Station

Summary: Mars tolerant Antarctic fungi and high-mountain lichens handle 18 months of Mars simulations better than space exposures on the International Space Station.

EXPOSE-E platform containing two Antarctic fungi and two high-mountain lichen species; research team members pose before EXPOSE-E platform is sent to the International Space Station; credit S. Onofri et al.: No usage restrictions, via EurekAlert!

Mars tolerant Antarctic fungi are high on lists of what is, may be or was sustainable on Mars, according to a study published Dec. 18, 2015, in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Astrobiology.

Nine co-researchers and co-writers base their findings upon 18 months of experiments conducted on the EXPOSE-E platform outside the Columbus module of the International Space Station. Cryomyces antarcticus (Antarctic hidden mushroom) and Cryomyces minteri (David W. Minter’s hidden mushroom) comprise the two species whose native endolithic (within stone) habitat niches are rocks. Rosa de la Torre Noetzel of Spain’s National Institute of Aerospace Technology in Torrejón de Ardoz describes “more than 60 percent of the cells” remaining intact.

Experiments by Frank de Winne’s team end successfully since “the stability of their cellular DNA was still high.”

The McMurdo Dry Valleys in Victoria Land, Antarctica, furnish the two cryptoendolithic (hidden within stone) fungi species selected by the researchers for the International Space Station.

McMurdo’s dry, hostile climate and geography of storms scouring soils free of ice and snow give scientists approximations of what Mars has in store for life. The European Space Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have plans to launch ExoMars and 2020 Mars life-hunting rovers respectively in 2018 and 2020. Dr. de la Torre indicates “fundamental and relevant for future experiments centered around the search for life” are “survival ability and long-term stability” of Antarctic fungi.

Growable plants such as Mars tolerant Antarctic fungi join breathable air, drinkable water and edible food as Mars mission priorities.

Section of rock colonized by cryptoendolithic microorganisms (left) and the Cryomyces fungi in quartz crystals under an electron microscope (right); credit S. Onofri et al.: No usage restrictions, via EurekAlert!

Experiments also keep track of two high-mountain lichen species, Rhizocarpon geographicum from the Sierra de Gredos in Avila, Spain, and Xantharia elegans from the Austrian Alps.

They lead to the Antarctic fungi and high-mountain lichens being organized into groups, with one being exposed to Mars-like conditions and the other to space environments. Extreme space means radiation of 190 megagrays, temperatures between -21.5 and +59.6 degrees Celsius (-6.7 and 139.28 degrees Fahrenheit) and vacuums of 10-7 to 10-4 pascals. Experiments necessitate for Mars-like conditions atmospheres 0.15 percent oxygen, 1.6 percent argon, 2.7 percent nitrogen, 95 percent carbon dioxide and 370 parts per million of water.

The EXPOSE-E platform operates at the Mars-like pressure of 1,000 pascals and the Mars-like ultra-violet radiation exposure above 200 nanometers.

Elaboration of the Lichens and Fungi Experiment, abbreviated to LIFE, prompts placement of the fungi and lichens in cells 1.4 centimeters (0.55 inches) in diameter each.

The LIFE experiments exposing one-half of the fungi and one-half of the lichens to extreme space conditions qualifies as far less reassuring than the Mars simulations. They reveal low viability and subdued photosynthesis for the fungi, at 4.11 percent, and for the lichens, at 2.5 percent, after exposure to space’s harsh conditions. They show for the lichens in the Mars simulations metabolic activities that are respectively 80 percent and twice those of the space-exposed Xanthoria and Rhizocarpon species.

Follow-up experiments also take place on the International Space Station, where the Mars tolerant Antarctic fungi interact with Martian soil.

Astronaut affixes the EXPOSE-E platform, containing two fungi species from Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys and two high-mountain lichen species from Spain and the Austrian Alps, to the Columbus module of the International Space Station; credit ESA: No usage restrictions, via EurekAlert!

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

EXPOSE-E platform containing two Antarctic fungi and two high-mountain lichen species; research team members pose before EXPOSE-E platform is sent to the International Space Station; credit S. Onofri et al.: No usage restrictions, via EurekAlert! @ https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/676539; (EurekAlert! news release @ https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/473846); (former URL @ http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/107708.php?from=317518)

Section of rock colonized by cryptoendolithic microorganisms (left) and the Cryomyces fungi in quartz crystals under an electron microscope (right); credit S. Onofri et al.: No usage restrictions, via EurekAlert! @ https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/676537; (EurekAlert! news release @ https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/473846); (former URL @ https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/107710.php?from=317518)

Astronaut affixes the EXPOSE-E platform, containing two fungi species from Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys and two high-mountain lichen species from Spain and the Austrian Alps, to the Columbus module of the International Space Station; credit ESA: No usage restrictions, via EurekAlert! @ https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/676538; (EurekAlert! news release @ https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/473846); (former URL @ http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/107709.php?from=317518

For further information:

“Antarctic Fungi May Hint at Potential for Life on Mars.” FoxNews > Spaceflight > Jan. 28, 2016.
Available @ http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/01/28/antarctic-fungi-may-hint-at-potential-for-life-on-mars.html

“Antarctic Fungi Survives Mars-Like Conditions in Breakthrough Space Study.” Yahoo! News > UK > 29 January 2015.
Available @ https://uk.news.yahoo.com/antarctic-fungi-survives-mars-conditions-103107048.html

“Antarctic Fungi Survive Martian Conditions on ISS.” The Times of India > Science > Jan. 29, 2016.
Available @ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Antarctic-fungi-survive-Martian-conditions-on-ISS/articleshow/50774446.cms

“Antarctic Fungi Survive Martian Conditions on the International Space Station.” Space Daily > Exo Life > Jan. 29, 2016.
Available @ http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Antarctic_fungi_survive_Martian_conditions_on_the_International_Space_Station_999.html

Atherton, Matt. 29 January 2016. “Life on Mars: Antarctic Fungi and European Lichens Survive on ISS After ‘Exposure to Mars’.” Yahoo! News.
Available @ https://uk.news.yahoo.com/life-mars-antarctic-fungi-european-103826632.html

Coldewey, Devin. 28 January 2016. “ Antarctic Fungi Survive for a Year in Mars-Like Conditions on Space Station.” NBC News > Tech > Innovation.
Available @ http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/antarctic-fungi-survive-year-mars-conditions-space-station-n506041

EurekAlert! @EurekAlertAAAS. 28 January 2016. "Antarctic fungi survive Martian conditions on the ISS." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/EurekAlertAAAS/status/692859728439824384

FECYT – Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology. 28 January 2016. “Antarctic Fungi Survive Martian Conditions on the International Space Station.” EurekAlert! > Pubic Releases > Public Release: 28 Jan 2016.
Available @ http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/f-sf-afs012816.php

“Fungi Survive Martian Conditions on ISS.” EarthSky > Space > Feb. 1, 2016.
Available @ https://earthsky.org/space/fungi-survive-martian-conditions-on-iss

“Hongos de la Antártida Sobreviven a Condiciones Marcianas en la Estación Espacial Internacional.” SINC > Matemáticas, Física y Química: Astronomía y Astrofísica > 26 enero 2016.
Available @ http://www.agenciasinc.es/Noticias/Hongos-de-la-Antartida-sobreviven-a-condiciones-marcianas-en-la-Estacion-Espacial-Internacional

MacDonald, Cheyenne. 28 January 2016. “Life COULD Exist on the Red Planet: Antarctic Fungi Survives Martian Conditions After Being Strapped Outside the Space Station for 18 Months.” Daily Mail > Science > ScienceTech.
Available @ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3421684/Life-exist-Mars-Antarctic-fungi-survives-Martian-conditions-strapped-outside-space-station.html

Martin, Sean. 29 January 2016. “Fungi’s Survival on ISS Boosts Hopes of Finding Life on Mars.” Express > News > Science.
Available @ http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/639173/Fungi-s-survival-on-ISS-boosts-hopes-of-finding-life-on-Mars

NewsBeat Social. 1 February 2016. "New Study Finds 2 Types of Fungi Could Likely Survive on Mars." YouTube.
Available @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_IlNXzTijw

Onofri, S.; Barreca, D.; Selbmann, L.; Isola, D.; Horneck, G.; de Vera, J.P.P.; Hatton, J.; and Zucconi, L. 2008. “Resistance of Antarctic Black Fungi and Cryptoendolithic Communities to Simulated Space and Martian Conditions.” Studies in Mycology  61: 99–109. DOI: 10.3114/sim.2008.61.10
Available @ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2610303/

Onofri, Silvano; de Vera, Jean-Pierre; Zucconi, Laura; Selbmann, Laura; Scalzi, Giuliano; Venkateswaran, Kasthuri J.; Rabbow, Elke; de la Torre, Rosa; Horneck, Gerda. 2015. 18 December 2015. “Survival of Antarctic Cryptoendolithic Fungi in Simulated Martian Conditions on Board the International Space Station.” Astrobiology 15 (12): 1052.
Available @ http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ast.2015.1324

de la Torre, Rosa; Sancho, Leopoldo G.; Horneck, Gerda; de los Ríos, Asunción; Wierzchos, Jacek; Olsson-Francis, Karen; Cockell, Charles S.; Rettberg, Petra; Berger, Thomas; de Vera, Jean-Pierre P.; Ott, Sieglinde; Martínez Frías, Jesús; González Melendi, Pablo; Mercedes Lucas, María; Reina, Manuel; Pintado, Ana; Demets, René. August 2010. “Survival of Lichens and Bacteria Exposed to Outer Space Conditions – Results of the Lithopanspermia Experiments.” Icarus 208 (2): 735–748. doi: 10.1016/j.icarus.2010.03.010
Available via Science Direct @ http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103510001120

Wall, Mike. 1 February 2016. “Fungi Survive Mars-Like Conditions on Space Station.” Yahoo! News.
Available @ https://ca.news.yahoo.com/fungi-survive-mars-conditions-space-station-122315329.html

Wenz, John. 28 January 2016. “The Hardiest Fungi on Earth Could Survive Mars-Like Conditions.” Popular Mechanics > Space > Moon Mars.
Available @ http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a19164/the-hardiest-fungi-on-earth-could-survive-mars-like-conditions/

Wood, Chris. 29 January 2016. “Fungi Survive on the ISS Under Mars-Like Conditions.” Gizmag > Space.
Available @ http://www.gizmag.com/iss-fungi-survive-mars-like-conditions/41575/