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Microorganisms
Special Issues
Anaerobic Microorganisms on Mars 2.0
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Anaerobic Microorganisms on Mars 2.0

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 1843

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Felipe Gómez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centro de Astrobiologia (INTA-CSIC), Torrejon de Ardoz, 28850 Madrid, Spain
Interests: astrobiology; mars; habitability; anaerobes; martian life
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is the continuation of our previous Special Issue, "Anaerobic Microorganisms in Mars". 

Space exploration missions to Mars, such as the Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity rover), have confirmed the past presence of water as well as habitable conditions on Mars. At the same time, methane plumes on the red planet identified by several authors (e.g., Formisano, MSL-Curiosity mission) lead to the question about the potential for life to exist on Mars. The presence of methane is an open and unsolved question. Methane gas on the Martian surface has a shorter lifetime; therefore, its presence must be sustained by the regular production of methane by some source. Could it be of biological origin? At this moment, we are ready to debate about the real-life potential to exist on Mars. From a metabolic point of view, anaerobic microorganisms open up the possibility of an ecological niche on Mars’ subsurface.

This Special Issue on anaerobic microorganisms on Mars opens up the debate about the real possibilities of a metabolic niche on Mars. Articles containing experiments run on simulation chambers and Earth analogues, as well as discussions of Martian habitability, are welcome.

Dr. Felipe Gómez
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • astrobiology
  • mars
  • habitability
  • anaerobes
  • martian Life

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Editorial

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2 pages, 191 KiB  
Editorial
Editorial: Anaerobic Microorganisms on Mars 2.0
by Felipe Gómez
Microorganisms 2023, 11(3), 734; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11030734 - 13 Mar 2023
Viewed by 833
Abstract
Recent space missions (MSL-Curiosity, Mars2020-Perseverance) have confirmed the historic presence of water on early Mars [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Anaerobic Microorganisms on Mars 2.0)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

10 pages, 662 KiB  
Article
A Comparison of Different Protocols for the Extraction of Microbial DNA Inhabiting Synthetic Mars Simulant Soil
by Han Wang, Agata Pijl, Binbin Liu, Wieger Wamelink, Gerard W. Korthals, Ohana Y. A. Costa and Eiko E. Kuramae
Microorganisms 2024, 12(4), 760; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12040760 - 10 Apr 2024
Viewed by 687
Abstract
Compared with typical Earth soil, Martian soil and Mars simulant soils have distinct properties, including pH > 8.0 and high contents of silicates, iron-rich minerals, sulfates, and metal oxides. This unique soil matrix poses a major challenge for extracting microbial DNA. In particular, [...] Read more.
Compared with typical Earth soil, Martian soil and Mars simulant soils have distinct properties, including pH > 8.0 and high contents of silicates, iron-rich minerals, sulfates, and metal oxides. This unique soil matrix poses a major challenge for extracting microbial DNA. In particular, mineral adsorption and the generation of destructive hydroxyl radicals through cationic redox cycling may interfere with DNA extraction. This study evaluated different protocols for extracting microbial DNA from Mars Global Simulant (MGS-1), a Mars simulant soil. Two commercial kits were tested: the FastDNA SPIN Kit for soil (“MP kit”) and the DNeasy PowerSoil Pro Kit (“PowerSoil kit”). MGS-1 was incubated with living soil for five weeks, and DNA was extracted from aliquots using the kits. After extraction, the DNA was quantified with a NanoDrop spectrophotometer and used as the template for 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and qPCR. The MP kit was the most efficient, yielding approximately four times more DNA than the PowerSoil kit. DNA extracted using the MP kit with 0.5 g soil resulted in 28,642–37,805 16S rRNA gene sequence reads and 30,380–42,070 16S rRNA gene copies, whereas the 16S rRNA gene could not be amplified from DNA extracted using the PowerSoil kit. We suggest that the FastDNA SPIN Kit is the best option for studying microbial communities in Mars simulant soils. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Anaerobic Microorganisms on Mars 2.0)
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