News Release

Microbial viability in the Atacama Desert

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Researchers Conduct Field Sampling in the Atacama Desert

image: Researchers conduct field sampling in the Atacama Desert. view more 

Credit: <i>PNAS</i>

Researchers report evidence of microbial activity in the hyperarid Atacama Desert and raise the possibility that other harsh environments, such as Mars, may contain microbes similarly adapted to dry conditions. The Atacama Desert of South America is one of the driest environments on Earth, and it is unclear whether traces of microbial life represent active populations or dead cells atmospherically deposited on the desert's salt-encrusted soil. Dirk Schulze-Makuch and colleagues explored multiple lines of evidence of microbial life, including metagenomics DNA analysis, separation of dead and viable cell DNA, and analysis of ATP and phospholipid fatty acids in the soil. The authors performed initial soil sampling in April 2015, one month after a rare precipitation event, with follow-up sampling in 2016 and 2017. Microbial species assemblages were primarily bacteria rather than archaea and included species tolerant of desiccation, ultraviolet radiation, and high soil salt content. Community composition varied by depth and by distance from the sea, suggesting community adaptation to dry conditions. Markers of microbial activity declined with time following the precipitation event as the soil returned to its arid state. According to the authors, the results suggest evidence of microbial life in one of the driest places on Earth.

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Article #17-14341: "Transitory microbial habitat in the hyperarid Atacama Desert," by Dirk Schulze-Makuch et al.

MEDIA CONTACT: Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Technical University Berlin, GERMANY; tel: +49-3329-6921070; e-mail: schulze-makuch@tu-berlin.de


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