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Project Progress

Field measurements were initially scheduled for summer 2014 to measure biogenic gases produced by anoxygenic mats dominated by the green non-sulfur filamentous anoxygenic phototroph Chloroflexus. However, the Yellowstone Research Permit Office notified us in June 2014 that we would not be allowed to sample the green Chloroflexus mats at New Pit Spring at Mammoth due to safety concerns. As a result, we contacted senior researcher Richard Castenholz from the University of Oregon and he showed us safer green Chloroflexus mats to sample during a field trip in August 2014 (Fig. 1). A permit will be obtained for these new sites and the biogenic gas measurements will be performed during summer 2015. We also will measure biogenic gases in a rooftop lab greenhouse at NASA Ames Research Center in which microbial mats from Guerrero Negro, Mexico, have been maintained long-term. This greenhouse is in the process of being relocated.