Model For Mars Life: Iron-Loving Bacteria

Single-celled microbes are considered to be a living example of some kind of life that might exist somewhere in the vast universe. These microbes are well-known for surviving in the extreme conditions that exist in other parts of the world.

A recent study was conducted on the bacterium 'Tepidibacillus decaturensis'. The study reveals that this bacterium could be a model organism for what exist in the Red Planet - Mars. This microorganism can survive in water, more than a mile underground in the Illinois Basin which is situated in a formation known as Mount Simon Sandstone. The bacterium can adjust to moderate heat and salt and also has the ability to persist in an anoxic environment. Mars is a planet which consists of brackish surface water without the presence of oxygen.

According to Space.com, a research paper named 'Tepidibacillus decaturensis. Nov: a microaerophilic, moderately thermophilic iron-reducing bacterium isolated from a depth of 1.7km in the Illinois Basin, USA', was published in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Micro Biology. The study was headed by three eminent researchers - Yiran Dong, Robert Stanford, and Bruce W. Fouke and was co-funded by the NASA Astrobiology Institute and the National Energy Technology Laboratory.

The team focused on drilling activity and was supported by the State Geological Survey. According to Scifeeds, Sanford, a geomicrobiologist explained that this project is estimating locations for storing carbon underground to seize the enormous volume of carbon dioxide emissions produced by the ADM industrial food production. The research team participated in two drill sessions conducted on the grounds of the ADM in Decatur, Illinois. Both the wells were drilled within 1000 feet of one another. This area happens to have iron oxide minerals with a coating of sandstone grains, similar to the surface of Mars.

Sanford said that there have been a few iron-reducing bacteria found in the deep subsurface environments. These organisms have respiratory functions to reduce iron. They reduce iron like humans reduce oxygen. It is believed that these organisms use ferric iron for breathing. The bacterium used during the study was a fermentative organism. The team also analyzed the genomic composition of 'Tepidibacillus decaturensis'. They have also found out another iron-reducing bacterium that reduces ferric to ferrous iron.

The combination of these two iron-reducing bacteria will help the scientists to conduct comparative studies of their metabolism and ecology. As per Space.com, Yiran Dong, a research scientist at the Carl R. Woese Institute of Genomic Biology states that they are trying to find out the evolutionary history of these bacteria on Earth and potentially on Mars.