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Wow stuff.
Template for Life on Mars Found
A shallow spring in Canada holds a type of bacteria that could thrive on
Mars.
By Irene Klotz
Wed Jun 9, 2010 01:00 PM ET
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THE GIST
a.. Methane-eating bacteria have been found in an environment similar to
conditions on Mars.
b.. The discovery may also explain Mars' mysterious plumes of methane.
c.. Life in extreme environments on Earth can serve as guideposts to
determine where life may exist elsewhere.
enlarge
The team found two types of bacteria living in Lost Hammer that feed off the
methane and likely breathe sulfate. Click to enlarge this image.
Thomas Niederberger
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a.. Are We Infecting Mars With Our Germs?
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RELATED TOPICS
a.. Arctic Regions
b.. Bacteria
c.. Environment
d.. Geology
e.. Mars
A new species of bacteria that feeds off methane and breathes something other
than oxygen has been found living in a salty Arctic spring. The discovery hints
at an ecosystem that could have -- or may still -- exist on Mars.
The bacteria were found in Lost Hammer, a shallow spring located on Canada's
Axel Heiberg Island. The spring, which is about 25 percent salt, never freezes
despite sub-zero temperatures most of the year.
"The first time we went there we noticed there were bubbles coming off the
spring," McGill University microbiologist Lyle Whyte told Discovery News.
Analysis showed the gas was 50 percent methane -- an unusually high
concentration -- and was not being produced by living organisms, such as
methanogenic bacteria. Rather, the gas resulted from geology -- the
interactions of water and rock.
"That was a surprise," Whyte said.
There was more to come: The team found two types of bacteria living in Lost
Hammer that feed off the methane and likely breathe sulfate, since there is no
usable oxygen in the water.
The discovery adds a new twist to the debate about possible life on Mars, a
cold, dry world that in many ways resembles the Canadian Arctic. Pockets of
methane have been found on Mars, with no clear explanation to their origins.
The new research shows that even if Mars' methane is determined to come from
non-biologic sources, it could actually be food for a whole different type of
bacteria. The methane-eating microbes are common on Earth, but the discovery in
the Canadian Arctic is believed to be the first time they've been found in a
non-marine environment.
"We've added another group of bacteria that could exist on Mars," Whyte said.
"If we were to find life of any kind on Mars, that would be a hell of a
discovery. The consensus is that we evolved from microbes in the first place,
so to find life is really a significant finding."
"Right now, we're looking for the plumbing that allows life to exist," added
Dale Anderson, a Mars scientist with the SETI Institute. "What we're trying to
do here on Earth is learn how life goes about its business -- from the
temperate regions to the more extreme environments that we find in polar
springs or hot vents -- and understand how microorganisms use those
environments and cope with the challenges."
"We may not find the same thing on Mars. We may find that it has a completely
independent genesis of life... or we could find out it's the same because Mars
and Earth have been 'swapping spit' for the last 4 billion years or so,"
Anderson said.
In addition to adding a new bacterial species to the list of possible Mars life
forms, the Lost Hammer research also shows a geologic mechanism which could
explain the mysterious methane plumes on Mars.
The research is being published in the International Society for Microbial
Ecology Journal.
http://news.discovery.com/space/arctic-bacteria-mars-methane.html
