Exobiology of the Venusian Clouds: New Insights into Habitability through Terrestrial Models and Methods of Detection
O. R. KotsyurbenkoJaime A. CordovaA. A. BelovВ. С. ЧепцовDenise KölblYuliya KhrunykMargarita O. KryuchkovaTetyana MilojevićRakesh MogulSatoshi SasakiGrzegorz SłowikВ. Н. СнытниковE. A. Vorobyova
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Abstract:
The search for life beyond Earth has focused on Mars and the icy moons Europa and Enceladus, all of which are considered a safe haven for life due to evidence of current or past water. The surface of Venus, on the other hand, has extreme conditions that make it a nonhabitable environment to life as we know it. This is in contrast, however, to its cloud layer, which, while still an extreme environment, may prove to be a safe haven for some extreme forms of life similar to extremophiles on Earth. We consider the venusian clouds a habitable environment based on the presence of (1) a solvent for biochemical reactions, (2) appropriate physicochemical conditions, (3) available energy, and (4) biologically relevant elements. The diversity of extreme microbial ecosystems on Earth has allowed us to identify terrestrial chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms that may be analogs to putative venusian organisms. Here, we hypothesize and describe biological processes that may be performed by such organisms in the venusian clouds. To detect putative venusian organisms, we describe potential biosignature detection methods, which include metal-microbial interactions and optical methods. Finally, we describe currently available technology that can potentially be used for modeling and simulation experiments.Keywords:
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Microbial life is found all over the globe. Diverse communities are even found in such places in which extreme conditions with respect of temperature, salinity, pH, and pressure prevail. Many of these environments were until recently considered too harsh to harbor microbial life. The microorganisms adapted to an existence at the edge of life are termed extremophiles. They include members of the Prokaryotes (domains Archaea and Bacteria) and the Eukarya, including algae and protozoa. Extremophilic microbes thrive at low and high temperatures -from subzero levels to above the boiling point of water, at both sides of the pH scale - in acidic as well as in alkaline media, in hypersaline environments with salt concentrations of up to saturation, at high pressure, both in the deep sea and in the terrestrial deep subsurface where they are exposed to pressures of hundreds of atmospheres, and in other extreme conditions. In many cases they tolerate combinations of more than one environmental stress factor. Some of these extremophiles may be considered as "living fossils" since their environment resembles the conditions that may have existed during the time life arose on Earth, more than 3.5 billion years ago. In view of these properties the extremophilic microorganisms may be considered as model organisms when exploring the possibilities of the existence of extraterrestrial life. For example, the microbes discovered in ice cores recovered from the depth of the Lake Vostok in Antarctica may serve as a model simulating conditions prevailing in the permafrost subsurface area of Mars or Jupiter's moon Europa. Microbial life in the Dead Sea or in Great Salt Lake may resemble halophilic life forms that may exist elsewhere in the universe, adapted to life at low water activities. Likewise, hyperthermophilic microorganisms present on Earth in hot springs, hydrothermal vents and other sites heated by volcanic activity in terrestrial or marine areas, may resemble life forms that may exist on hot planets such as Venus.
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Identification and Characterization of Extremophile Microorganisms with Significance to Astrobiology
It is now well recognized that microorganisms thrive in extreme ecological conditions such as geothermal vents, polar region, acid and alkaline lakes, and the cold pressurized depth of the ocean floor of this planet. Morphological, physiological, biochemical and genetic adaptations to extreme environments by these extremophile microorganisms have generated immense interest amongst astrobiologists who increasingly believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life. The evidence collected by NASA's space probe Galileo suggested the presence of liquid water and volcanic activity on Mars and Jupiter's satellite Europa. Volcanic activity provides some of the heat necessary to keep the water on Europa from freezing that could provide important dissolved chemicals needed by living organisms. The possibility of the existence of hypersaline alkaline lakes and evaporites confined within closed volcanic basins and impact craters on Mars, and a layer of liquid water under the ice on Europa provide sufficient 'raison d'etre' to study microorganisms in similar extreme environments on Earth, which could provide us with a model that would help establish the existence of extraterrestrial life on other planetary bodies. The objectives of the summer research project were as follows: (1) application of molecular approaches to help establish new species of extremophile microorganisms isolated from a hypersaline alkaline lake; and (2) identification of a major cold-shock gene (cspA) homolog from a psychrotolerant microorganism, PmagG1.
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Enceladus, one of the mid-sized icy moons of Saturn, has an importance to planetary science far greater than its modest 504-km diameter would suggest. Intensive exploration of Enceladus by the Cassini Saturn orbiter has revealed that it is the only known icy world in the solar system with ongoing deep-seated geological activity. Active tectonic fractures at Enceladus's south pole, dubbed “tiger stripes,” warmed by internal tidally generated heat, spew supersonic jets of water vapor, other gases, and ice particles into circum-Saturnian space. A subsurface saltwater sea probably exists under the south pole, between the ice shell and the silicate core. Because of evidence that liquid water is probably present at the jet sources, Enceladus is also of great astrobiological interest as a potential habitat for life.
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The recent discovery of extrasolar Earth-like planets that orbit in their habitable zone of their system, and the latest clues of the presence of liquid water in the subsurface of Mars and in the subglacial ocean of Jupiter's and Saturn's moons, has reopened debates about habitability and limits of life. Although liquid water, widely accepted as an absolute requirement for terrestrial life, may be present in other bodies of the solar system or elsewhere, physical and chemical conditions, such as temperature, pressure, and salinity, may limit this habitability. However, extremophilic microorganisms found in various extreme terrestrial environments are adapted to thrive in permanently extreme ranges of physicochemical conditions. This review first describes promising environments for life in the Solar System and the microorganisms that inhabit similar environments on the Earth. The effects of extreme temperatures, salt, and hydrostatic pressure conditions on biomolecules will be explained in some detail, and recent advances in understanding biophysical and structural adaptation strategies allowing microorganisms to cope with extreme physicochemical conditions are reviewed to discuss promising environments for life in the Solar System in terms of habitability.
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Scientists suggest that the hydrogen could be evidence of hydrothermal activity on the ocean floor of Saturn's sixth largest moon.
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