Unearthing terrestrial extreme microbiomes for searching terrestrial-like life in the Solar System

• Published in: Trends in Microbiology
• Main Authors: Coleine, Claudia, Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel
• Other Authors: Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España), European Commission, Junta de Andalucía
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cell Press 2022
• Subjects: Astrobiology; Extremophiles; Habitability; biodiversity; Extreme environments; Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/288832; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2022.04.002

15 páginas.- 2 figuras.- 2 tablas.- 110 referencias The possibility of life elsewhere in the universe has fascinated humankind for ages. To the best of our knowledge, life, as we know it, is limited to planet Earth; yet current investigation suggests that life might be more common than previously thought. In this review, we explore extreme terrestrial analogue environments in the search for some notable examples of extreme organisms, including overlooked microbial groups such as viruses, fungi, and protists, associated with limits of life on Earth. This knowledge is integral to provide the foundational principles needed to predict what sort of Earth-like organisms we might find in the Solar System and beyond, and to understand the future and origins of life on Earth. Thank the Italian National Program for Antarctic Research (PNRA) for supporting her research. M.D-B. is supported by a project from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2020-115813RA-I00), and a project of the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) and the Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades of the Junta de Andalucía (FEDER Andalucía 2014-2020 Objetivo temático '01 – Refuerzo de la investigación, el desarrollo tecnológico y la innovación') associated with the research project P20_00879 (ANDABIOMA). Peer reviewed