Correlations Between Life-Detection Techniques and Implications for Sampling Site Selection in Planetary Analog Missions
We conducted an analog sampling expedition under simulated mission constraints to areas dominated by basaltic tephra of the Eldfell and Fimmvörðuháls lava fields (Iceland). Sites were selected to be “homogeneous” at a coarse remote sensing resolution (10–100 m) in apparent color, morphology, moistur...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:5686451 2023-05-15T16:48:42+02:00 Correlations Between Life-Detection Techniques and Implications for Sampling Site Selection in Planetary Analog Missions Gentry, Diana M. Amador, Elena S. Cable, Morgan L. Chaudry, Nosheen Cullen, Thomas Jacobsen, Malene B. Murukesan, Gayathri Schwieterman, Edward W. Stevens, Adam H. Stockton, Amanda Tan, George Yin, Chang Cullen, David C. Geppert, Wolf 2017-10-01 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5686451/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29048222 https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1575 en eng Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5686451/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29048222 http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1575 © Diana M. Gentry et al., 2017; Published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. This Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. CC-BY-NC Research Articles Text 2017 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1575 2017-11-26T01:13:27Z We conducted an analog sampling expedition under simulated mission constraints to areas dominated by basaltic tephra of the Eldfell and Fimmvörðuháls lava fields (Iceland). Sites were selected to be “homogeneous” at a coarse remote sensing resolution (10–100 m) in apparent color, morphology, moisture, and grain size, with best-effort realism in numbers of locations and replicates. Three different biomarker assays (counting of nucleic-acid-stained cells via fluorescent microscopy, a luciferin/luciferase assay for adenosine triphosphate, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to detect DNA associated with bacteria, archaea, and fungi) were characterized at four nested spatial scales (1 m, 10 m, 100 m, and >1 km) by using five common metrics for sample site representativeness (sample mean variance, group F tests, pairwise t tests, and the distribution-free rank sum H and u tests). Correlations between all assays were characterized with Spearman's rank test. The bioluminescence assay showed the most variance across the sites, followed by qPCR for bacterial and archaeal DNA; these results could not be considered representative at the finest resolution tested (1 m). Cell concentration and fungal DNA also had significant local variation, but they were homogeneous over scales of >1 km. These results show that the selection of life detection assays and the number, distribution, and location of sampling sites in a low biomass environment with limited a priori characterization can yield both contrasting and complementary results, and that their interdependence must be given due consideration to maximize science return in future biomarker sampling expeditions. Key Words: Astrobiology—Biodiversity—Microbiology—Iceland—Planetary exploration—Mars mission simulation—Biomarker. Astrobiology 17, 1009–1021. Text Iceland PubMed Central (PMC) Eldfell ENVELOPE(-20.250,-20.250,63.433,63.433) Fimmvörðuháls ENVELOPE(-19.429,-19.429,63.624,63.624) Astrobiology 17 10 1009 1021 |
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PubMed Central (PMC) |
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Research Articles |
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Research Articles Gentry, Diana M. Amador, Elena S. Cable, Morgan L. Chaudry, Nosheen Cullen, Thomas Jacobsen, Malene B. Murukesan, Gayathri Schwieterman, Edward W. Stevens, Adam H. Stockton, Amanda Tan, George Yin, Chang Cullen, David C. Geppert, Wolf Correlations Between Life-Detection Techniques and Implications for Sampling Site Selection in Planetary Analog Missions |
topic_facet |
Research Articles |
description |
We conducted an analog sampling expedition under simulated mission constraints to areas dominated by basaltic tephra of the Eldfell and Fimmvörðuháls lava fields (Iceland). Sites were selected to be “homogeneous” at a coarse remote sensing resolution (10–100 m) in apparent color, morphology, moisture, and grain size, with best-effort realism in numbers of locations and replicates. Three different biomarker assays (counting of nucleic-acid-stained cells via fluorescent microscopy, a luciferin/luciferase assay for adenosine triphosphate, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to detect DNA associated with bacteria, archaea, and fungi) were characterized at four nested spatial scales (1 m, 10 m, 100 m, and >1 km) by using five common metrics for sample site representativeness (sample mean variance, group F tests, pairwise t tests, and the distribution-free rank sum H and u tests). Correlations between all assays were characterized with Spearman's rank test. The bioluminescence assay showed the most variance across the sites, followed by qPCR for bacterial and archaeal DNA; these results could not be considered representative at the finest resolution tested (1 m). Cell concentration and fungal DNA also had significant local variation, but they were homogeneous over scales of >1 km. These results show that the selection of life detection assays and the number, distribution, and location of sampling sites in a low biomass environment with limited a priori characterization can yield both contrasting and complementary results, and that their interdependence must be given due consideration to maximize science return in future biomarker sampling expeditions. Key Words: Astrobiology—Biodiversity—Microbiology—Iceland—Planetary exploration—Mars mission simulation—Biomarker. Astrobiology 17, 1009–1021. |
format |
Text |
author |
Gentry, Diana M. Amador, Elena S. Cable, Morgan L. Chaudry, Nosheen Cullen, Thomas Jacobsen, Malene B. Murukesan, Gayathri Schwieterman, Edward W. Stevens, Adam H. Stockton, Amanda Tan, George Yin, Chang Cullen, David C. Geppert, Wolf |
author_facet |
Gentry, Diana M. Amador, Elena S. Cable, Morgan L. Chaudry, Nosheen Cullen, Thomas Jacobsen, Malene B. Murukesan, Gayathri Schwieterman, Edward W. Stevens, Adam H. Stockton, Amanda Tan, George Yin, Chang Cullen, David C. Geppert, Wolf |
author_sort |
Gentry, Diana M. |
title |
Correlations Between Life-Detection Techniques and Implications for Sampling Site Selection in Planetary Analog Missions |
title_short |
Correlations Between Life-Detection Techniques and Implications for Sampling Site Selection in Planetary Analog Missions |
title_full |
Correlations Between Life-Detection Techniques and Implications for Sampling Site Selection in Planetary Analog Missions |
title_fullStr |
Correlations Between Life-Detection Techniques and Implications for Sampling Site Selection in Planetary Analog Missions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Correlations Between Life-Detection Techniques and Implications for Sampling Site Selection in Planetary Analog Missions |
title_sort |
correlations between life-detection techniques and implications for sampling site selection in planetary analog missions |
publisher |
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5686451/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29048222 https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1575 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-20.250,-20.250,63.433,63.433) ENVELOPE(-19.429,-19.429,63.624,63.624) |
geographic |
Eldfell Fimmvörðuháls |
geographic_facet |
Eldfell Fimmvörðuháls |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5686451/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29048222 http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1575 |
op_rights |
© Diana M. Gentry et al., 2017; Published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. This Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1575 |
container_title |
Astrobiology |
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17 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
1009 |
op_container_end_page |
1021 |
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1766038789861408768 |