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Project Reports

• Biosignatures in Ancient Rocks

  The Biosignatures in Ancient Rocks group investigates the co-evolution of life and environment on early Earth using a combination of geological field work, geochemical analysis, genomics, and numerical simulation.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 3.2 4.1 4.2 4.3 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2

• Ecology of Extreme Environments: Characterization of Energy Flow, Bioenergetics, and Biodiversity in Early Earth Analog Ecosystems

  The distribution of organisms and their metabolic functions on Earth is rooted, at least in part, to the numerous adaptive radiations that have resulted in the ability to occupy new ecological niches through evolutionary time. Such responses are recorded in extant organismal geographic distribution patterns (e.g., habitat range), as well as in the genetic record of organisms. The extreme variation in the geochemical composition of present day hydrothermal environments is likely to encompass many of those that were present on early Earth, when key metabolic processes are thought to have evolved. Environments such Yellowstone National Park (YNP), Wyoming harbor >12,000 geothermal features that vary widely in temperature and geochemical composition. Such environments provide a field laboratory for examining the tendency for guilds of organisms to inhabit particular ecological niches and to define the range of geochemical conditions tolerated by that functional guild (i.e., habitat range or zone of habitability). In this aim, we are examining the distribution and diversity of genes that encode for target metalloproteins in YNP environments that harbor geochemical properties that are thought to be similar to those that characterize early Earth. Using a number of newly developed computational approaches, we have been able to deduce the primary environmental parameters that constrain the distribution of a number of functional processes and which underpin their diversity. Such information is central to constraining the parameter space of environment types that are likely to have facilitated the emergence of these metal-based biocatalysts.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.2 3.3 3.4 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 5.3

• Biosignatures in Relevant Microbial Ecosystems

  PSARC is investigating microbial life in some of Earth’s most mission-relevant modern ecosystems. These environments include the extremely salty Dead Sea, the impact-fractured crust of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, methane seeps on the ocean floor, deep ice in the Greenland ice sheet, and oxygen-free waters including deep subsurface groundwater. We target environments that, when studied, provide fundamental information that can serve as the basis for future solar system exploration. Combining our expertise in molecular biology, geochemistry, microbiology, and metagenomics, and in collaboration with some of the planet’s most extreme explorers, we are deciphering the microbiology, fossilization processes, and recoverable biosignatures from these mission-relevant environments.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 4.3 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 7.1 7.2

• Biomechanics of Rangeomorph Fauna

  The oldest evidence of complex communities of lifeforms come from Newfoundland, Canada. The fossil beds discovered there are dominated by rangeomorphs, which look superficially like underwater plants, but probably got their nutrition by direct uptake of dissolved resources in the water. Here, we use models of water flow in the community to see how these complex organisms could have competed with bacteria for organic matter or reduced compounds in the water. Ultimately, we have determined that by sticking up off the sea floor, rangeomorphs could take advantage of sheer forces created by moving water, and gain an advantage over bacteria in competition for nutrients. The benefits of sticking up into water flow may have driven the early evolution of complex life on earth. Ongoing work seeks to clarify the transitions between flow regimes across stages of community succession from prokaryotic mats to eukaryotic communities

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 4.2 5.2 6.1

• Project 1D: Establishing Biogenicity and Environmental Setting of Precambrian Kerogen and Microfossils

  This study demonstrates new abilities to use in situ measurements of carbon isotope ratios in microfossil kerogen as a biosignature and to establish taxonomic and micro-structural correlations.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 4.1 5.1 5.2 6.1 7.1

• Planetary Surface and Interior Models and SuperEarths

  We use computer models to simulate the evolution of the interior and the surface of real and hypothetical planets around other stars. Our goal is to work out what sorts of initial characteristics are most likely to contribute to making a planet habitable in the long run. Observations in our own Solar System show us that water and other essential materials are continuously consumed via weathering (and other processes) and must be replenished from the planet’s interior via volcanic activity to maintain a biosphere. The surface models we are developing will be used to predict how gases and other materials will be trapped through weathering over time. Our interior models are designed to predict how much and what sort of materials will come to a planet’s surface through volcanic activity throughout its history.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 4.1 5.2 6.1

• Metabolic Networks From Cells to Ecosystems

  Members of the Segre’ group use systems biology approaches to study the complex network of metabolic reactions that allow microbial cells to survive and reproduce under varying environmental conditions. The resource allocation problem that underlies these fundamental processes changes dramatically when multiple cells can compete or cooperate with each other, for example through metabolic cross-feeding. Through mathematical models of microbial ecosystems and computer simulations of spatially structured cell populations, the Segre’ team aims at understanding the environmental conditions and evolutionary processes that favor the emergence of multicellular organization in living systems.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.4 4.2 5.2 6.1

• The Subglacial Biosphere – Insights Into Life-Sustaining Strategies in an Extraterrestrial Analog Environment

  Sub-ice environments are prevalent on Earth today and are likely to have been more prevalent the Earth’s past during episodes of significant glacial advances (e.g., snow-ball Earth). Numerous metabolic strategies have been hypothesized to sustain life in sub-ice environments. Common among these hypotheses is that they are all independent of photosynthesis, and instead rely on chemical energy. Recently, we demonstrated the presence of an active assemblage of methanogens in the subglacial environment of an Alpine glacier (Boyd et al., 2010). The distribution of methanogens is narrowly constrained, due in part to the energetics of the reactions which support this functional class of organism (namely carbon dioxide reduction with hydrogen and acetate fermentation). Methanogens utilize a number of metalloenzymes that have active site clusters comprised of a unique array of metals. During the course of this study, we identified other features that were suggestive of other active and potentially relevant metabolic strategies in the subglacial environment, such as nitrogen cycling. The goals of this project are 1) identifying a suite of biomarkers indicative of biological CH4 production 2). quantifying the flux of CH4 from sub-ice systems and 3). developing an understanding how life thrives at the thermodynamic limits of life. This project represents a unique extension of the ABRC and bridges the research goals of several nodes, namely the JPL-Icy Worlds team and the ASU-Follow the Elements team.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2

• Stromatolites in the Desert: Analogs to Other Worlds

  In this task biologists go to field sites in Mexico to better understand the environmental effects on growth rates for freshwater stromatolites. Stromatolites are microbial mat communities that have the ability to calcify under certain conditions. They are believed to be an ancient form of life, that may have dominated the planet’s biosphere more than 2 billion years ago. Our work focuses on understanding these communities as a means of characterizing their metabolisms and gas outputs, for use in planetary models of ancient environments.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 4.2 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2

• Viral Ecology and Evolution

  This project is aimed at probing the occurrence and evolution of archaeal viruses in the extreme environments in the thermal areas in Yellowstone National Park. Viruses are the most abundant life-like entities on the planet and are likely a major reservoir of genetic diversity for all life on the planet and these studies are aimed at providing insights into the role of viruses in the evolution of early life on Earth.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2

• Interdisciplinary Studies of Earth’s Seafloor Biosphere

  The remote deep sediment-buried ocean basaltic crust is Earth’s largest aquifer and host to the least known and potentially one of the most significant biospheres on Earth. CORK observatories have provided unparalleled access to this remote environment. They are enabling groundbreaking research in crustal fluid flow, (bio)geochemical fluid/crustal alteration, and the emerging field of deep crustal biosphere

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2

• Understanding Past Earth Environments

  For much of the history Earth, life on the planet existed in an environment very different than that of modern-day Earth. Thus, the ancient Earth represents a planet with a biosphere that is both dramatically different than the one in which we live, but that is also accessible to detailed study. As such, it serves as a model for what types of biospheres we may find on other planets. A particular focus of our work was on the “Early Earth” (formation through to about 500 million years ago), a timeframe poorly represented in the geological and fossil records but comprises the majority of Earth’s history. We have studied the composition and pressure of the ancient atmosphere; modeled the effects of clouds on such a planet; studied the sulfur, oxygen and nitrogen cycles; and explored atmospheric formation of molecules that were likely important to the origins of life on Earth.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 6.1

• Project 3B: In Situ S Isotope Studies in Archean-Proterozoic Sulfides

  Studies of sulfur isotopes constrain atmospheric and marine conditions in the Paleoproterozoic and Archean. We have developed capabilities for analysis of all four sulfur isotopes, including the rarest isotope (36-S) in situ by ion microprobe. In general sulfur 4 isotope data from Archean sulfides fall on the reference array for mass independent fractionation that was established by earlier bulk measurements. Small deviations from the array are resolved and likely result from biological or environmental forcings.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 4.1 5.2 6.1 7.1

• Measuring Interdisciplinarity Within Astrobiology Research

  To integrate the work of the diverse scientists working on astrobiology, we have harvested and analyzed thousands of astrobiology documents to reveal areas of potential connection. This framework allows us to identify crossover documents that guide scientists quickly across vast interdisciplinary libraries, suggest productive interdisciplinary collaborations, and provide a metric of interdisciplinary science.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 4.1 4.2 4.3 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2

• Stoichiometry of Life – Task 1 – Laboratory Studies in Biological Stoichiometry

  This project component involves a diverse set of studies of various microorganisms with which we are trying to better understand how living things use chemical elements (nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, etc) and how they cope, in a physiological sense, with shortages of such elements. For example, how does the “elemental recipe of life” change when an organism is starved for phosphorus or nitrogen or iron? Is this change similar for diverse species of microorganisms? Furthermore, how does an organism shift its patterns of gene expression when it is starved by various nutrients? This will help in interpreting studies of gene expression in natural environments, including extreme environments relevant to astrobiology.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2

• Stoichiometry of Life, Task 2a: Field Studies – Yellowstone National Park

  Our stoichiometry studies are determining the relationships between the elemental compositions of organisms and the elemental compositions of their environments. We experimentally determine how changes in element availability (N, P, Fe) affect the community structure in hot spring ecosystems. We also use stable isotopes (¹⁵N and ¹³C) to trace which metabolisms actively utilize N and C and where in cells these elements are used. Recently, our team has shown for the first time that nitrogen (N₂) fixation can occur at temperatures >85oC (Loiacono et al. 2012). We are also developing robust environmental sensors for hot springs that reveal chemical and thermal gradients at scales similar to the observed spatial distributions in hot spring microbial communities.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.2

• The Neoproterozoic Carbon Cycle

  We are studying the dynamics of the rise of oxygen during the Neoproterozoic (1 billion years ago to 543 million years ago) through culturing experiments, models and observations (see the progress report on the Unicellular Protists). We are testing the predictions of the following “anti-priming” hypothesis: if more easily degradable organic matter was degraded in oxic environments, this may have slowed down the degradation of organic matter in anaerobic environments and the overall degradation of organic matter, increasing the concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere and the surface ocean. We are currently developing theoretical predictions and testing these ideas by laboratory enrichment cultures of anaerobic microbes that degrade complex substrates in the presence and absence of labile organic compounds.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 4.1 4.2 5.2 6.1 6.2

• Stoichiometry of Life, Task 2b: Field Studies – Cuatro Cienegas

  Cuatro Cienegas is a unique biological preserve in México (state of Coahuila) in which there is striking microbial diversity, potentially related to extreme scarcity of phosphorus. We aim to understand this relationship via field sampling of biological and chemical characteristics and a series of enclosure and whole-pond fertilization experiments. These studies help in identifying the element signatures that microbes develop when key nutrient elements are scarce. Furthermore, the chemical and physical environments of the desert aquatic habitats at Cuatro Cienegas are analogous to those that may have existed on Mars during times in its past when it was losing its own surface water. Thus, these data may help in interpreting information about element signatures obtained from the Curiosity rover as it explores Gale Crater.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2

• Stoichiometry of Life – Task 2c – Field Studies – Other

  We continued analyses of organic matter in samples of porewaters from a deep ocean hydrothermal mound; concluded a study on element acquisition by biological soil crusts, and initiated a new study that may shed light on a recent hypothesis that floating pumice may have been a site for the origin of life. In this new study, the eruption of the Puyehue / Cordon Caulle volcano on 4 June 2011 near Bariloche, Argentina, provided a unique opportunity to investigate floating pumice as a unique habitat for microbial life. To assess this, we sampled floating pumice from various regional lakes to assess the make-up of the associated microbial communities using genomic techniques and to evaluate the use of key elements (nitrogen, phosphorus) by these microbes using chemical and isotopic methods.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 5.2 5.3 6.1

• Stoichiometry of Life, Task 3b: Ancient Records – Genomic

  The goal of Task 3b is to bring the enormous and ever-increasing repository of genomic data, both from single organisms and natural environments, to bear on understanding the history of life on Earth. Team members bring together innovative, integrative methods for understanding the interaction and feedback between life and environment, in particular how nutrient and energy limitations shape evolution. These efforts are focused not only on ancient records, but also are playing an important role in understanding how life and environment co-evolve on the modern Earth.

  ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1 5.2 5.3