Low Energy Subsurface Environments as Extraterrestrial Analogs
Earth’s subsurface is often isolated from phototrophic energy sources and characterized by chemotrophic modes of life. These environments are often oligotrophic and limited in electron donors or electron acceptors, and include continental crust, subseafloor oceanic crust, and marine sediment as well...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01605 https://doaj.org/article/f71bc0ee4d1c4d6fa6ff4c900a928f2d |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f71bc0ee4d1c4d6fa6ff4c900a928f2d 2023-05-15T18:02:04+02:00 Low Energy Subsurface Environments as Extraterrestrial Analogs Rose M. Jones Jacqueline M. Goordial Beth N. Orcutt 2018-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01605 https://doaj.org/article/f71bc0ee4d1c4d6fa6ff4c900a928f2d EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01605/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2018.01605 https://doaj.org/article/f71bc0ee4d1c4d6fa6ff4c900a928f2d Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 9 (2018) deep biosphere subsurface astrobiology low energy energy limitation Microbiology QR1-502 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01605 2022-12-31T10:53:02Z Earth’s subsurface is often isolated from phototrophic energy sources and characterized by chemotrophic modes of life. These environments are often oligotrophic and limited in electron donors or electron acceptors, and include continental crust, subseafloor oceanic crust, and marine sediment as well as subglacial lakes and the subsurface of polar desert soils. These low energy subsurface environments are therefore uniquely positioned for examining minimum energetic requirements and adaptations for chemotrophic life. Current targets for astrobiology investigations of extant life are planetary bodies with largely inhospitable surfaces, such as Mars, Europa, and Enceladus. Subsurface environments on Earth thus serve as analogs to explore possibilities of subsurface life on extraterrestrial bodies. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of subsurface environments as potential analogs, and the features of microbial communities existing in these low energy environments, with particular emphasis on how they inform the study of energetic limits required for life. The thermodynamic energetic calculations presented here suggest that free energy yields of reactions and energy density of some metabolic redox reactions on Mars, Europa, Enceladus, and Titan could be comparable to analog environments in Earth’s low energy subsurface habitats. Article in Journal/Newspaper polar desert Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Microbiology 9 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
deep biosphere subsurface astrobiology low energy energy limitation Microbiology QR1-502 |
spellingShingle |
deep biosphere subsurface astrobiology low energy energy limitation Microbiology QR1-502 Rose M. Jones Jacqueline M. Goordial Beth N. Orcutt Low Energy Subsurface Environments as Extraterrestrial Analogs |
topic_facet |
deep biosphere subsurface astrobiology low energy energy limitation Microbiology QR1-502 |
description |
Earth’s subsurface is often isolated from phototrophic energy sources and characterized by chemotrophic modes of life. These environments are often oligotrophic and limited in electron donors or electron acceptors, and include continental crust, subseafloor oceanic crust, and marine sediment as well as subglacial lakes and the subsurface of polar desert soils. These low energy subsurface environments are therefore uniquely positioned for examining minimum energetic requirements and adaptations for chemotrophic life. Current targets for astrobiology investigations of extant life are planetary bodies with largely inhospitable surfaces, such as Mars, Europa, and Enceladus. Subsurface environments on Earth thus serve as analogs to explore possibilities of subsurface life on extraterrestrial bodies. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of subsurface environments as potential analogs, and the features of microbial communities existing in these low energy environments, with particular emphasis on how they inform the study of energetic limits required for life. The thermodynamic energetic calculations presented here suggest that free energy yields of reactions and energy density of some metabolic redox reactions on Mars, Europa, Enceladus, and Titan could be comparable to analog environments in Earth’s low energy subsurface habitats. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rose M. Jones Jacqueline M. Goordial Beth N. Orcutt |
author_facet |
Rose M. Jones Jacqueline M. Goordial Beth N. Orcutt |
author_sort |
Rose M. Jones |
title |
Low Energy Subsurface Environments as Extraterrestrial Analogs |
title_short |
Low Energy Subsurface Environments as Extraterrestrial Analogs |
title_full |
Low Energy Subsurface Environments as Extraterrestrial Analogs |
title_fullStr |
Low Energy Subsurface Environments as Extraterrestrial Analogs |
title_full_unstemmed |
Low Energy Subsurface Environments as Extraterrestrial Analogs |
title_sort |
low energy subsurface environments as extraterrestrial analogs |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01605 https://doaj.org/article/f71bc0ee4d1c4d6fa6ff4c900a928f2d |
genre |
polar desert |
genre_facet |
polar desert |
op_source |
Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 9 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01605/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2018.01605 https://doaj.org/article/f71bc0ee4d1c4d6fa6ff4c900a928f2d |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01605 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
container_volume |
9 |
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1766171744456933376 |