2013 Annual Science Report
Carnegie Institution of Washington Reporting | SEP 2012 – AUG 2013
Project 5: Geological-Biological Interactions
Project Summary
We continue to study the intersection between geology and biology. We continue to explore how sub-seafloor interactions support deep ocean hydrothermal ecosystems. We study life’s adaption to extremes of pressure, cold, and salinity. We adapt and apply multiple isotopic sulfur geochemistry towards the understanding of microbial metabolism and as a means of detecting ancient metabolisms recorded in the rock record through characteristic sulfur isotopic signatures. We apply state-of-the-art methods to derive chemical and isotopic biosignatures of life in the Earth’s most ancient rocks.
Project Progress
Project 5. Geological-Biogical Intersections
5.1 Exploring the diversity, physiology and evolution of microbial communities in deep-sea hydrothermal vent environments
The focus of CoI Baross’s research is the diversity, physiology and evolution of microbial communities in deep-sea hydrothermal vent and sub-seafloor environments and the possible role these environments played as settings for the origin of life. CoI Baross and students preformed deep-sequencing analyses (tens of thousands of reads) of sub-seafloor vent fluids and found many rare groups of archaeal species (<10 in the sample) some of which are known to be dominant groups in the hot sections of active sulfide structures. These results show the existence of a high diversity of generally unidentified hyperthermophilic archaea in the deep sub-seafloor that has not previously been detected using older molecular methods. Included in our research is also an emphasis on understanding the mechanisms by which bacteria and archaea adapt and survive the extreme conditions in these environments. To address this, we have explored the evolutionary strategies of the microbial and viral communities through comparative analysis of the cellular and viral metagenome collected from these diffuse-flow fluids from these extreme environments. High numbers of viruses were detected in the samples. Furthermore, results from the viral metagenome showed evidence that a high proportion were lysogenic, that is, capable of integrating into the host genome. Overall, we demonstrated a high potential for hydrothermal vent viruses to facilitate horizontal gene transfer and thus affect the host’s physiology and evolutionary history.
5.2 Marilyn Fogel Transitions to University of California, Merced
2013 was a year of change for Fogel, as she moved from the Geophysical Laboratory to the University of California at Merced. Projects at the GL continued and papers were published. Derek Smith, graduate student at Dartmouth College and GL, finished his dissertation in August and accepted a position as an Agouron Fellow at Caltech working with Victoria Orphan. Dr. Roxane Bowden, Lab Manager for the stable isotope astrobiology lab, continues to do research in collaboration with scientists at GL and DTM.
5.3 Tracing biological processes using multiple sulfur isotopes
Research by CoI Farquhar and students during this reporting period focused on continued development of a framework for interpreting isotope signatures produced by microbial sulfur metabolisms in experiments and in nature. This work continues to include analyses of laboratory culture experiments with sulfate reducers and sulfide oxidizers. This work also continues to extend laboratory analyses to studies of biological processes that need to be characterized so that metabolic isotopic signatures can be uniquely identified. Work on the products of laboratory culture experiments was conducted by PhD student Brian Harms and laboratory manager/researcher Joost Hoek who continued to study isotope fractionations produced by thermophiles A. fulgidus and T. indicus. The work on A. fulgidus involves interpretation of data collected for a temperature block experiment with this organism, and construction of an inverse model sulfur metabolism to understand how it responds to different temperature conditions. Harms is in the final stages of modeling these data, and anticipates preparing a manuscript for submission in the next year. Work with T. indicus involves analysis of archived samples collected from experiments conducted by Dr. Hoek that examined the metabolic response of this organism to changing hydrogen activity. Dr. Hoek has already shown that the fractionations increase as hydrogen activity decreases. The focus of the present work will be used with multiple sulfur isotopes to isolate the natureal changes in the flow of metabolites through the dissimilartory sulfate reduction metabolism of this organism to generate these changes in fractionations. Research by PhD student Daniel Eldridge and undergraduate student Noah Bowman focused on developing an apparatus to study the abiotic oxidation of sulfide in natural (seawater) and laboratory (pure water) media. This work was the focus of a senior thesis by Noah Bowman, and has resulted in the development of an apparatus that can be used to collect rate data for the abiotic chain of reactions that is associated with sulfide oxidation. Rate data can be collected for sulfide consumption as well as for the production and consumption of sulfur intermediate oxidation state compounds such as polysulfides, thiosulfate, and sulfite as well as for the accumulation of ultimate product sulfate. The experiments also provide a way to measure the isotopic compositions of these compounds. Work in the previous reporting period identified isotopic signatures that are inconsistent with classical isotope exchange reactions. The rate data as well as ab initio calculations using Gaussian software will be used to identify hypotheses that explain the origin of these isotope effects. A framework that describes the isotope effects is needed for interpretation of metabolic effects in natural systems.
5.3 Evidence of 3.5 billion-year-old bacterial ecosystems found in Australia
Earth’s oldest sedimentary rocks are not only rare, but also almost always altered by hydrothermal and tectonic activity. We have identified the well-preserved remnants of a complex ecosystem in a nearly 3.5 billion-year-old sedimentary rock sequence in Australia. We described the various MISS from the ancient coastal flats preserved in the Dresser Formation. Chemical analyses point towards a biological origin of the material. The Dresser MISS fossils resemble strongly in form and preservation the MISS from several other younger rock samples, such as a 2.9 billion-year-old ecosystem in South Africa. These sedimentary structures, which arose from the interactions of bacterial films with shoreline sediments from the region, are promising targets for Mars rovers.
5.4 Mars Science Laboratory: Mission involvement
During the past reporting period, CoI Steele has been an active participating scientist on the MSL mission. In particular he has focused on the SAM instrument suite and associated experiments. The results of these initial experiments have been published. CoI Steele has continued working with the SAM team as Curiosity continues its journey. He is a co-author on a number of papers in preparation. In concert with his involvement in MSL, CoI Steele has continued his analysis of organics in Martian Meteorites focusing in particular on the Tissint Martian meteorite. CoI Steele has performed micro-RAMAN spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry (nanoSIMS), pyrolysis Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Time of Flight Secondary ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), Transmission Electron Microscopy and C-, N-, and O-micro X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) spectroscopy on these organic inclusions in the Tissint meteorite. These data are aiding in the interpretation of the MSL SAM data.
Publications
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Agee, C. B., Wilson, N. V., McCubbin, F. M., Ziegler, K., Polyak, V. J., Sharp, Z. D., … Elardo, S. M. (2013). Unique Meteorite from Early Amazonian Mars: Water-Rich Basaltic Breccia Northwest Africa 7034. Science, 339(6121), 780–785. doi:10.1126/science.1228858
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Archer, P. D., Franz, H. B., Sutter, B., Arevalo, R. D., Coll, P., Eigenbrode, J. L., … Wray, J. J. (2014). Abundances and implications of volatile-bearing species from evolved gas analysis of the Rocknest aeolian deposit, Gale Crater, Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 119(1), 237–254. doi:10.1002/2013je004493
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Blake, D. F., Morris, R. V., Kocurek, G., Morrison, S. M., Downs, R. T., Bish, D., … Zorzano Mier, M-P. (2013). Curiosity at Gale Crater, Mars: Characterization and Analysis of the Rocknest Sand Shadow. Science, 341(6153), 1239505–1239505. doi:10.1126/science.1239505
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Bower, D. M., Steele, A., Fries, M. D., & Kater, L. (2013). Micro Raman Spectroscopy of Carbonaceous Material in Microfossils and Meteorites: Improving a Method for Life Detection. Astrobiology, 13(1), 103–113. doi:10.1089/ast.2012.0865
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Farquhar, J., Cliff, J., Zerkle, A. L., Kamyshny, A., Poulton, S. W., Claire, M., … Harms, B. (2013). Pathways for Neoarchean pyrite formation constrained by mass-independent sulfur isotopes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(44), 17638–17643. doi:10.1073/pnas.1218851110
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Fogel, M. L., & Steele, A. (2013). Nitrogen in Extraterrestrial Environments: Clues to the Possible Presence of Life. Elements, 9(5), 367–372. doi:10.2113/gselements.9.5.367
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Glavin, D. P., Freissinet, C., Miller, K. E., Eigenbrode, J. L., Brunner, A. E., Buch, A., … Mahaffy, P. R. (2013). Evidence for perchlorates and the origin of chlorinated hydrocarbons detected by SAM at the Rocknest aeolian deposit in Gale Crater. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 118(10), 1955–1973. doi:10.1002/jgre.20144
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Gupta, N. S., Steele, A., Fogel, M., Griffin, P., Adams, M., Summons, R. E., … Cody, G. D. (2014). Experimental formation of geomacromolecules from microbial lipids. Organic Geochemistry, 67, 35–40. doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2013.11.006
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Kamyshny, A., Oduro, H., Mansaray, Z. F., & Farquhar, J. (2012). Hydrogen Cyanide Accumulation and Transformations in Non-polluted Salt Marsh Sediments. Aquat Geochem, 19(2), 97–113. doi:10.1007/s10498-012-9180-5
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Leshin, L. A., Mahaffy, P. R., Webster, C. R., Cabane, M., Coll, P., Conrad, P. G., … Moores, J. E. (2013). Volatile, Isotope, and Organic Analysis of Martian Fines with the Mars Curiosity Rover. Science, 341(6153), 1238937–1238937. doi:10.1126/science.1238937
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Ming, D. W., Archer, P. D., Glavin, D. P., Eigenbrode, J. L., Franz, H. B., Sutter, B., … Moores, J. E. (2013). Volatile and Organic Compositions of Sedimentary Rocks in Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars. Science, 343(6169), 1245267–1245267. doi:10.1126/science.1245267
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Oduro, H., Kamyshny, A., Zerkle, A. L., Li, Y., & Farquhar, J. (2013). Quadruple sulfur isotope constraints on the origin and cycling of volatile organic sulfur compounds in a stratified sulfidic lake. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 120, 251–262. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2013.06.039
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Oduro, H., Van Alstyne, K. L., & Farquhar, J. (2012). Sulfur isotope variability of oceanic DMSP generation and its contributions to marine biogenic sulfur emissions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(23), 9012–9016. doi:10.1073/pnas.1117691109
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Roerdink, D. L., Mason, P. R. D., Farquhar, J., & Reimer, T. (2012). Multiple sulfur isotopes in Paleoarchean barites identify an important role for microbial sulfate reduction in the early marine environment. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 331-332, 177–186. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2012.03.020
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Smith, D., Scott, J., Steele, A., Cody, G., Ohara, S., & Fogel, M. (2013). Effects of Metabolism and Physiology on the Production of Okenone and Bacteriochlorophyll a in Purple Sulfur Bacteria. Geomicrobiology Journal, 31(2), 128–137. doi:10.1080/01490451.2013.815293
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Starke, V., Kirshtein, J., Fogel, M. L., & Steele, A. (2013). Microbial community composition and endolith colonization at an Arctic thermal spring are driven by calcite precipitation. Environmental Microbiology Reports, None, n/a–n/a. doi:10.1111/1758-2229.12063
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Stern, J. C., McAdam, A. C., Ten Kate, I. L., Bish, D. L., Blake, D. F., Morris, R. V., … Amundsen, H. E. F. (2013). Isotopic and geochemical investigation of two distinct Mars analog environments using evolved gas techniques in Svalbard, Norway. Icarus, 224(2), 297–308. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2012.07.010
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Szponar, N., Brazelton, W. J., Schrenk, M. O., Bower, D. M., Steele, A., & Morrill, P. L. (2013). Geochemistry of a continental site of serpentinization, the Tablelands Ophiolite, Gros Morne National Park: A Mars analogue. Icarus, 224(2), 286–296. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2012.07.004
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Wang, Y., Griffin, P., Jin, K., Fogel, M. L., Steele, A., & Cody, G. D. (2013). Tracing H isotope effects in the dynamic metabolic network using multi-nuclear (1H, 2H and 13C) solid state NMR and GC–MS. Organic Geochemistry, 57, 84–94. doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2013.01.013
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Wankel, S. D., Bradley, A. S., Eldridge, D. L., & Johnston, D. T. (2014). Determination and application of the equilibrium oxygen isotope effect between water and sulfite. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 125, 694–711. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2013.08.039
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Webster, C. R., Mahaffy, P. R., Flesch, G. J., Niles, P. B., Jones, J. H., Leshin, L. A., … Steele, A. (2013). Isotope Ratios of H, C, and O in CO2 and H2O of the Martian Atmosphere. Science, 341(6143), 260–263. doi:10.1126/science.1237961
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Wong, M. H., Atreya, S. K., Mahaffy, P. N., Franz, H. B., Malespin, C., Trainer, M. G., … Steele, A. (2013). Isotopes of nitrogen on Mars: Atmospheric measurements by Curiosity’s mass spectrometer. Geophysical Research Letters, 40(23), 6033–6037. doi:10.1002/2013gl057840
- Burger, P.V., Shearer, C.K., Sharp, Z.D., McCubbin, F.M., Provencio, P. & Steele, A. (2013). Driving Fumarole Activity on the Moon 1. Chlorine Distribution and its Isotope Composition in “Rusty Rock.” Implications for the Petrogenesis of “Rusty Rock,” Origin of “Rusty;” Alteration, and Volatile Element Behavior on the Moon. 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 1719: 2812.
- Conrad, P.G., Archer, D., Coll, P., De La Torre, M., Edgett, K., Eigenbrode, J.L., Fisk, M., Freissenet, C., Franz, H., Glavin, D.P., Gómez, F., Haberle, R., Hamilton, V., Jones, J.H., Kah, L.C., Leshin, L.A., Mahaffy, P.M., McAdam, A., McKay, C.P., Navarro-González, R., Steele, A., Stern, J., Sumner, D., Treiman, A.H., Wong, M.H., Wray, J., Yingst, R.A. & Team, M.S. (2013). Habitability Assessment at Gale Crater: Implications from Initial Results. 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 1719: 2185.
- Conrad, P.G., Malespin, C., Manning, H., Schwenzer, S.P., Atreya, S., Brinckerhoff, W.B., Eigenbrode, J., Farley, K., Franz, H., Glavin, D.P., Jones, J., Mahaffy, P.M., Owen, T., Pepin, R.O., Steele, A., Treiman, A. & Wong, M. (2013). Heavy Noble Gas Measurements on Mars with SAM.
- Conrad, P.G., Malespin, C., Manning, H., Schwenzer, S.P., Atreya, S.K., Brinckerhoff, W.B., Eigenbrode, J.L., Farley, K., Franz, H., Glavin, D.P., Jones, J.H., Mahaffy, P.M., Owen, T., Pepin, R.O., Steele, A., Treiman, A.H., Wong, M. & Team, M.S. (2013). Heavy Noble Gas Measurements on Mars with SAM. 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 1719: 2149.
- Eigenbrode, J.L., Glavin, D., Coll, P., Summons, R.E., Mahaffy, P., Archer, D., Brunner, A.E., Buch, A., Cabane, M., Conrad, P., Freissinet, C., Martin, M., McKay, C.P., Miller, K., Navarro-González, R., Steele, A., Szopa, C., Teinturier, S., Hurowitz, J.A., Evans, J., Anderson, M., Jandura, L., Brown, K., Logan, C., Kuhn, S., Anderson, R., Beegle, L.W., Blakkolb, B., Katz, I., Limonadi, D., Rainen, R., Umland, J., Team, S. & Team, M.S. (2013). Detection of Organic Constituents Including Chloromethylpropene in the Analyses of the Rocknest Drift by Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM). 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 1719: 1666.
- Farquhar, J., Zerkle, A.L. & Bekker, A. (2013). Geological and Geochemical Constraints on Earth’s Early Atmosphere. In: Farquhar, J. (Eds.). Atmospheric Evolution. Vol. 13. Elsevier.
- Franz, H.B., McAdam, A.C., Stern, J.C., Archer, P.D., Sutter, B., Grotzinger, J.P., Jones, J.H., Leshin, L.A., Mahaffy, P.R., Ming, D.W., Morris, R.V., Niles, P.B., Owen, T.C., Raaen, E., Steele, A. & Webster, C.R. (2013). Carbon and Sulfur Isotopic Composition of Rocknest Soil as Determined with the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer. 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 1719: 2066.
- Freissinet, C., Mahaffy, P., Glavin, D., Buch, A., Brunner, A., Eigenbrode, J., Martin, M., Miller, K., Steele, A., Szopa, C., , S.A.M. & Team, M.S. (2013). Analysis of chlorocarbon compounds identified in the SAM Investigation of the Mars Science Laboratory mission. AAS/Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting Abstracts, 45.
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PROJECT INVESTIGATORS:
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PROJECT MEMBERS:
William Brazelton
Co-Investigator
Mihaela Glamoclija
Co-Investigator
Shohei Ohara
Co-Investigator
Ileana Perez
Co-Investigator
Douglas Rumble
Co-Investigator
Derek Smith
Co-Investigator
Verena Starke
Co-Investigator
Dimitri Sverjensky
Co-Investigator
Ying Wang
Co-Investigator
Dina Bower
Collaborator
Katrina Edwards
Collaborator
Jennifer Eigenbrode
Collaborator
Neal Gupta
Collaborator
Julie Huber
Collaborator
David Kilcoyne
Collaborator
Penny Morrill
Collaborator
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RELATED OBJECTIVES:
Objective 4.1
Earth's early biosphere.
Objective 5.1
Environment-dependent, molecular evolution in microorganisms
Objective 6.1
Effects of environmental changes on microbial ecosystems
Objective 6.2
Adaptation and evolution of life beyond Earth
Objective 7.1
Biosignatures to be sought in Solar System materials