Microbial Characterization of Arctic Glacial Ice Cores with a Semiautomated Life Detection System.

The search for extant microbial life will be a major focus of future astrobiology missions; however, no direct extant life detection instrumentation is included in current missions to Mars. In this study, we developed the semiautomated MicroLife detection platform that collects and processes environmental samples, detects biosignatures, and characterizes microbial activity. This platform is composed of a drill for sample collection, a redox dye colorimetric system for microbial metabolic activity detection and assessment (μMAMA [microfluidics Microbial Activity MicroAssay]), and a MinION sequencer for biosignature detection and characterization of microbial communities. The MicroLife platform was field-tested on White Glacier on Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian high Arctic, with two extracted ice cores. The μMAMA successfully detected microbial metabolism from the ice cores within 1 day of incubation. The MinION sequencing of the ice cores and the positive μMAMA card identified a microbial community consistent with cold and oligotrophic environments. Furthermore, isolation and identification of microbial isolates from the μMAMA card corroborated the MinION sequencing. Together, these analyses support the MicroLife platform's efficacy in identifying microbes natively present in cryoenvironments and detecting their metabolic activity. Given our MicroLife platform's size and low energy requirements, it could be incorporated into a future landed platform or rovers for life detection.

[1]  A. Ricco,et al.  Microfluidics Microbial Activity MicroAssay: An Automated In Situ Microbial Metabolic Detection System. , 2022, Astrobiology.

[2]  L. Whyte,et al.  Assessment of Automated Nucleic Acid Extraction Systems in Combination with MinION Sequencing As Potential Tools for the Detection of Microbial Biosignatures. , 2021, Astrobiology.

[3]  G. Garrity,et al.  Valid publication of the names of forty-two phyla of prokaryotes. , 2021, International journal of systematic and evolutionary microbiology.

[4]  S. Bellingrath-Kimura,et al.  Diversity and biological activity of culturable endophytic bacteria associated with marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) , 2021, AIMS microbiology.

[5]  M. J. Calaway,et al.  Perseverance’s Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) Investigation , 2021, Space Science Reviews.

[6]  L. Whyte,et al.  Taxonomic Characterization and Microbial Activity Determination of Cold-Adapted Microbial Communities in Lava Tube Ice Caves from Lava Beds National Monument, a High-Fidelity Mars Analogue Environment. , 2021, Astrobiology.

[7]  S. Thennadil,et al.  Sulphate-Reducing Bacteria’s Response to Extreme pH Environments and the Effect of Their Activities on Microbial Corrosion , 2021, Applied Sciences.

[8]  A. McEwen,et al.  Martian subsurface cryosalt expansion and collapse as trigger for landslides , 2021, Science Advances.

[9]  R. Wiens,et al.  Mars 2020 Mission Overview , 2020, Space Science Reviews.

[10]  J. Guzman,et al.  Green tea (Camellia sinensis) extract inhibits biofilm formation in acyl homoserine lactone-producing, antibiotic-resistant Morganella morganii isolated from Pasig River, Philippines , 2020, Heliyon.

[11]  R. Orosei,et al.  Multiple subglacial water bodies below the south pole of Mars unveiled by new MARSIS data , 2020, Nature Astronomy.

[12]  J. Vangronsveld,et al.  Diversity and plant growth-promoting potential of (un)culturable bacteria in the Hedera helix phylloplane , 2020, BMC Microbiology.

[13]  R. Pappalardo,et al.  NASA’s Europa Clipper—a mission to a potentially habitable ocean world , 2020, Nature Communications.

[14]  Yolanda Blanco,et al.  The Limits, Capabilities, and Potential for Life Detection with MinION Sequencing in a Paleochannel Mars Analog. , 2020, Astrobiology.

[15]  Yiling Zhang,et al.  Soil Properties and Microbial Diversity at the Frontier of Laohugou Glacier Retreat in Qilian Mountains , 2020, Current Microbiology.

[16]  R. Sinha,et al.  Bacterial community structure of a glacio-marine system in the Arctic (Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard). , 2019, The Science of the total environment.

[17]  Edward Hanna,et al.  Bacterial Dynamics in Supraglacial Habitats of the Greenland Ice Sheet , 2019, Front. Microbiol..

[18]  Yuguang Zhou,et al.  Genetic diversity of glacier-inhabiting Cryobacterium bacteria in China and description of Cryobacterium zongtaii sp. nov. and Arthrobacter glacialis sp. nov. , 2019, Systematic and applied microbiology.

[19]  R. Margesin,et al.  Microbial ecology of the cryosphere (glacial and permafrost habitats): current knowledge , 2019, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

[20]  S. Hardies,et al.  Complete genome of streamlined marine actinobacterium Pontimonas salivibrio strain CL-TW6T adapted to coastal planktonic lifestyle , 2018, BMC Genomics.

[21]  F. Soldovieri,et al.  Radar evidence of subglacial liquid water on Mars , 2018, Science.

[22]  Mary A. Voytek,et al.  The Ladder of Life Detection , 2018, Astrobiology.

[23]  Lyle G. Whyte,et al.  In Situ Field Sequencing and Life Detection in Remote (79°26′N) Canadian High Arctic Permafrost Ice Wedge Microbial Communities , 2017, Front. Microbiol..

[24]  Sota Tanaka,et al.  Biogeography of cryoconite forming cyanobacteria on polar and Asian glaciers , 2017 .

[25]  E. García-López,et al.  Glaciers and Ice Sheets As Analog Environments of Potentially Habitable Icy Worlds , 2017, Front. Microbiol..

[26]  Gianfranco Visentin,et al.  Habitability on Early Mars and the Search for Biosignatures with the ExoMars Rover , 2017, Astrobiology.

[27]  John Robert Brucato,et al.  The Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) Instrument: Characterization of Organic Material in Martian Sediments , 2017, Astrobiology.

[28]  S. Koren,et al.  Canu: scalable and accurate long-read assembly via adaptive k-mer weighting and repeat separation , 2016, bioRxiv.

[29]  J. Cogley,et al.  Comparison of geodetic and glaciological mass budgets for White Glacier, Axel Heiberg Island, Canada , 2017 .

[30]  Douglas J. Botkin,et al.  Nanopore DNA Sequencing and Genome Assembly on the International Space Station , 2016, bioRxiv.

[31]  Francesca Giordano,et al.  Oxford Nanopore MinION Sequencing and Genome Assembly , 2016, Genom. Proteom. Bioinform..

[32]  A. Rai,et al.  Functional profiling of cyanobacterial genomes and its role in ecological adaptations , 2016, Genomics data.

[33]  M. Kuypers,et al.  Biofilms on glacial surfaces: hotspots for biological activity , 2016, npj Biofilms and Microbiomes.

[34]  E. Natasha Stavros,et al.  THEO concept mission: Testing the Habitability of Enceladus’s Ocean , 2016, 1605.00579.

[35]  Anders Krogh,et al.  Fast and sensitive taxonomic classification for metagenomics with Kaiju , 2016, Nature Communications.

[36]  N. Takeuchi,et al.  Cryoconite , 2016 .

[37]  T. Vogel,et al.  Snow and ice ecosystems: not so extreme. , 2015, Research in microbiology.

[38]  A. Boetius,et al.  Microbial ecology of the cryosphere: sea ice and glacial habitats , 2015, Nature Reviews Microbiology.

[39]  K. Szatraj,et al.  Microbial community changes along the Ecology Glacier ablation zone (King George Island, Antarctica) , 2015, Polar Biology.

[40]  K. Szatraj,et al.  Microbial community development on the surface of Hans and Werenskiold Glaciers (Svalbard, Arctic): a comparison , 2015, Extremophiles.

[41]  Mick Watson,et al.  Successful test launch for nanopore sequencing , 2015, Nature Methods.

[42]  Arwyn Edwards,et al.  Microbial abundance in surface ice on the Greenland Ice Sheet , 2015, Front. Microbiol..

[43]  Andrew Steele,et al.  Mars methane detection and variability at Gale crater , 2015, Science.

[44]  A. Anesio,et al.  Spring thaw ionic pulses boost nutrient availability and microbial growth in entombed Antarctic Dry Valley cryoconite holes , 2014, Front. Microbiol..

[45]  G. Griffith,et al.  Coupled cryoconite ecosystem structure-function relationships are revealed by comparing bacterial communities in alpine and Arctic glaciers. , 2014, FEMS microbiology ecology.

[46]  Arwyn Edwards,et al.  A metagenomic snapshot of taxonomic and functional diversity in an alpine glacier cryoconite ecosystem , 2013 .

[47]  H. Gaskins,et al.  Microbial pathways in colonic sulfur metabolism and links with health and disease , 2012, Front. Physio..

[48]  M. Sharp,et al.  Molecular characterization of dissolved organic matter in glacial ice: coupling natural abundance 1H NMR and fluorescence spectroscopy. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[49]  Peter Williams,et al.  IMG: the integrated microbial genomes database and comparative analysis system , 2011, Nucleic Acids Res..

[50]  B. S. Manjunath,et al.  The iPlant Collaborative: Cyberinfrastructure for Plant Biology , 2011, Front. Plant Sci..

[51]  Javier Gómez-Elvira,et al.  SOLID3: a multiplex antibody microarray-based optical sensor instrument for in situ life detection in planetary exploration. , 2011, Astrobiology.

[52]  W. Martin,et al.  Networks of Gene Sharing among 329 Proteobacterial Genomes Reveal Differences in Lateral Gene Transfer Frequency at Different Phylogenetic Depths , 2010, Molecular biology and evolution.

[53]  K. Towner.  Acinetobacter: an old friend, but a new enemy. , 2009, The Journal of hospital infection.

[54]  Mi Sun Kim,et al.  Acinetobacter soli sp. nov., isolated from forest soil , 2008, The Journal of Microbiology.

[55]  Mark Johnson,et al.  NCBI BLAST: a better web interface , 2008, Nucleic Acids Res..

[56]  T. Yao,et al.  Phylogenetic and Physiological Diversity of Bacteria Isolated from Puruogangri Ice Core , 2008, Microbial Ecology.

[57]  M. Fournier,et al.  Oxygen defense in sulfate-reducing bacteria. , 2006, Journal of biotechnology.

[58]  J. Doležel,et al.  Nuclear DNA content and genome size of trout and human. , 2003, Cytometry. Part A : the journal of the International Society for Analytical Cytology.

[59]  A. Kappler,et al.  Anaerobic Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria show as resistance and immobilize as during Fe(III) mineral precipitation. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[60]  D. Mueller,et al.  Gradient analysis of cryoconite ecosystems from two polar glaciers , 2003, Polar Biology.

[61]  F. Rainey,et al.  Frigoribacterium faeni gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel psychrophilic genus of the family Microbacteriaceae. , 2000, International journal of systematic and evolutionary microbiology.