Microbial Diversity in a Hypersaline Sulfate Lake: A Terrestrial Analog of Ancient Mars

• Published in: Frontiers in Microbiology
• Main Authors: Pontefract, Alexandra, Zhu, Ting F., Walker, Virginia K., Hepburn, Holli, Lui, Clarissa, Zuber, Maria T., Ruvkun, Gary, Carr, Christopher E.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2017
• Subjects: Microbiology; Ace Lake; Antarctic; British Columbia; Canada; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5623196/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29018418; https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01819

Life can persist under severe osmotic stress and low water activity in hypersaline environments. On Mars, evidence for the past presence of saline bodies of water is prevalent and resulted in the widespread deposition of sulfate and chloride salts. Here we investigate Spotted Lake (British Columbia,...