Notice: This is an archived and unmaintained page. For current information, please browse astrobiology.nasa.gov.
NAI
Login
NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

nai
You are here: Home » Annual Science Reports » Team

2015 Annual Science Report

University of Southern California Reporting  |  JAN 2015 – DEC 2015

Executive Summary

Our multi-disciplinary team from the University of Southern California, California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Lab, Desert Research Institute, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Northwestern University is developing and employing field, laboratory, and modeling approaches aimed at detecting and characterizing microbial life in the subsurface the intraterrestrials. We posit that if life exists, or ever existed, on Mars or other planetary body in our solar system, evidence thereof would most likely be found in the subsurface. This study takes advantage of unique opportunities to explore the subsurface ecosystems on Earth through bore-holes, mine shafts, sediment coring, marine vents and seeps, and deeply-sourced springs. Access to the subsurface—both continental and marine—and broad characterization of the rocks, fluids, and microbial inhabitants is central to this study. Our focused research themes require subsurface samples for laboratory and in situ experiments. Specifically, we are carrying out in situ ... Continue reading.

Field Sites
17 Institutions
1 Project Reports
32 Publications
3 Field Sites
Roadmap
Objectives

Project Reports

  • Life Underground

    Our multi-disciplinary team from the University of Southern California, California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Lab, Desert Research Institute, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Northwestern University is developing and employing field, laboratory, and modeling approaches aimed at detecting and characterizing microbial life in the subsurface—the intraterrestrials. We posit that if life exists, or ever existed, on Mars or other planetary body in our solar system, evidence thereof would most likely be found in the subsurface. This study takes advantage of unique opportunities to explore the subsurface ecosystems on Earth through boreholes, mine shafts, sediment coring, marine vents and seeps, and deeply-sourced springs. Access to the subsurface—both continental and marine—and broad characterization of the rocks, fluids, and microbial inhabitants is central to this study. Our focused research themes require subsurface samples for laboratory and in situ experiments. Specifically, we are carrying out in situ life detection, culturing and isolation of heretofore unknown intraterrestrial archaea and bacteria using numerous novel and traditional techniques, and incorporating new and existing data into regional and global metabolic energy models.

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 3.3 4.1 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.2

Education & Public Outreach

Publications

  • (no authors found) (2015). PERSPECTIVE. Elements, 11(6), 384–385. doi:10.2113/gselements.11.6.384

  • Case, D. H., Pasulka, A. L., Marlow, J. J., Grupe, B. M., Levin, L. A., & Orphan, V. J. (2015). Methane Seep Carbonates Host Distinct, Diverse, and Dynamic Microbial Assemblages. mBio, 6(6), e01348–15. doi:10.1128/mbio.01348-15

  • Dawson, K. S., Osburn, M. R., Sessions, A. L., & Orphan, V. J. (2015). Metabolic associations with archaea drive shifts in hydrogen isotope fractionation in sulfate-reducing bacterial lipids in cocultures and methane seeps. Geobiology, 13(5), 462–477. doi:10.1111/gbi.12140

  • Gross, B. J., & El-Naggar, M. Y. (2015). A combined electrochemical and optical trapping platform for measuring single cell respiration rates at electrode interfaces. Review of Scientific Instruments, 86(6), 064301. doi:10.1063/1.4922853

  • Inskeep, W. P., Jay, Z. J., MacUr, R. E., Clingenpeel, S., Tenney, A., Lovalvo, D., … Nealson, K. (2015). Geomicrobiology of sublacustrine thermal vents in Yellowstone Lake: geochemical controls on microbial community structure and function. Frontiers in Microbiology, 6. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.01044

  • Ishii, S. i., Suzuki, S., Tenney, A., Norden-Krichmar, T. M., Nealson, K. H., & Bretschger, O. (2015). Microbial metabolic networks in a complex electrogenic biofilm recovered from a stimulus-induced metatranscriptomics approach. Scientific Reports, 5, 14840. doi:10.1038/srep14840

  • LaRowe, D. E., & Amend, J. P. (2015). Catabolic rates, population sizes and doubling/replacement times of microorganisms in natural settings. American Journal of Science, 315(3), 167–203. doi:10.2475/03.2015.01

  • LaRowe, D. E., & Amend, J. P. (2015). Power limits for microbial life. Frontiers in Microbiology, 6. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.00718

  • Li, S-L., & Nealson, K. H. (2015). Enriching distinctive microbial communities from marine sediments via an electrochemical-sulfide-oxidizing process on carbon electrodes. Frontiers in Microbiology, 6. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.00111

  • Lin, H-T., Amend, J. P., LaRowe, D. E., Bingham, J-P., & Cowen, J. P. (2015). Dissolved amino acids in oceanic basaltic basement fluids. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 164, 175–190. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2015.04.044

  • Marlow, J., Peckmann, J., & Orphan, V. (2015). Autoendoliths: a distinct type of rock-hosted microbial life. Geobiology, 13(4), 303–307. doi:10.1111/gbi.12131

  • Mason, O. U., Case, D. H., Naehr, T. H., Lee, R. W., Thomas, R. B., Bailey, J. V., & Orphan, V. J. (2015). Comparison of Archaeal and Bacterial Diversity in Methane Seep Carbonate Nodules and Host Sediments, Eel River Basin and Hydrate Ridge, USA. Microbial Ecology, 70(3), 766–784. doi:10.1007/s00248-015-0615-6

  • McFarlane, I. R., Lazzari-Dean, J. R., & El-Naggar, M. Y. (2015). Field effect transistors based on semiconductive microbially synthesized chalcogenide nanofibers. Acta Biomaterialia, 13, 364–373. doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2014.11.005

  • McGlynn, S. E., Chadwick, G. L., Kempes, C. P., & Orphan, V. J. (2015). Single cell activity reveals direct electron transfer in methanotrophic consortia. Nature, 526(7574), 531–535. doi:10.1038/nature15512

  • Nakano, C. M., Byun, H. S., Ma, H., Wei, T., & El-Naggar, M. Y. (2015). A framework for stochastic simulations and visualization of biological electron-transfer dynamics. Computer Physics Communications, 193, 1–9. doi:10.1016/j.cpc.2015.03.009

  • Nealson, K. H. (2015). Ex-phot: a new take on primitive utilization of solar energy. Environmental Microbiology Reports, 7(1), 33–35. doi:10.1111/1758-2229.12256

  • Osburn, M. R., Owens, J., Bergmann, K. D., Lyons, T. W., & Grotzinger, J. P. (2015). Dynamic changes in sulfate sulfur isotopes preceding the Ediacaran Shuram Excursion. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 170, 204–224. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2015.07.039

  • Price, R. E., LaRowe, D. E., Italiano, F., Savov, I., Pichler, T., & Amend, J. P. (2015). Subsurface hydrothermal processes and the bioenergetics of chemolithoautotrophy at the shallow-sea vents off Panarea Island (Italy). Chemical Geology, 407-408, 21–45. doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2015.04.011

  • Robador, A., Jungbluth, S. P., LaRowe, D. E., Bowers, R. M., Rappé, M. S., Amend, J. P., & Cowen, J. P. (2015). Activity and phylogenetic diversity of sulfate-reducing microorganisms in low-temperature subsurface fluids within the upper oceanic crust. Frontiers in Microbiology, 5. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2014.00748

  • Rowe, A. R., Chellamuthu, P., Lam, B., Okamoto, A., & Nealson, K. H. (2015). Marine sediments microbes capable of electrode oxidation as a surrogate for lithotrophic insoluble substrate metabolism. Frontiers in Microbiology, 5. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2014.00784

  • Skennerton, C. T., Ward, L. M., Michel, A., Metcalfe, K., Valiente, C., Mullin, S., … Orphan, V. J. (2015). Genomic Reconstruction of an Uncultured Hydrothermal Vent Gammaproteobacterial Methanotroph (Family Methylothermaceae) Indicates Multiple Adaptations to Oxygen Limitation. Frontiers in Microbiology, 6. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.01425

  • Stern, J. C., Sutter, B., Freissinet, C., Navarro-González, R., McKay, C. P., Archer, P. D., … Mahaffy, P. R. (2015). Evidence for indigenous nitrogen in sedimentary and aeolian deposits from the Curiosity rover investigations at Gale crater, Mars. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 112(14), 4245–4250. doi:10.1073/pnas.1420932112

  • Sylvan, J. B., Amend, J. P., Momper, L. M., Edwards, K. J., Toner, B. M., & Hoffman, C. L. (2015). Bacillus rigiliprofundi sp. nov., an endospore-forming, Mn-oxidizing, moderately halophilic bacterium isolated from deep subseafloor basaltic crust. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 65(6), 1992–1998. doi:10.1099/ijs.0.000211

  • Thacher, R., Hsu, L., Ravindran, V., Nealson, K. H., & Pirbazari, M. (2015). Modeling the transport and bioreduction of hexavalent chromium in aquifers: Influence of natural organic matter. Chemical Engineering Science, 138, 552–565. doi:10.1016/j.ces.2015.08.011

  • White, L. M., Bhartia, R., Stucky, G. D., Kanik, I., & Russell, M. J. (2015). Mackinawite and greigite in ancient alkaline hydrothermal chimneys: Identifying potential key catalysts for emergent life. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 430, 105–114. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.08.013

  • Inagaki, F., Hinrichs, K-U., Kubo, Y., Bowles, M. W., Heuer, V. B., Hong, W-L., … Yamada, Y. (2015). Exploring deep microbial life in coal-bearing sediment down to  2.5 km below the ocean floor. Science, 349(6246), 420–424. doi:10.1126/science.aaa6882

  • Kieft, T. L., Onstott, T. C., Ahonen, L., Aloisi, V., Colwell, F. S., Engelen, B., … Wilkins, M. J. (2015). Workshop to develop deep-life continental scientific drilling projects. Sci. Dril., 19, 43–53. doi:10.5194/sd-19-43-2015

  • LaRowe, D. E., & Amend, J. P. (2016). The energetics of anabolism in natural settings. The ISME Journal, 10(6), 1285–1295. doi:10.1038/ismej.2015.227

  • McKay, L., Klokman, V. W., Mendlovitz, H. P., LaRowe, D. E., Hoer, D. R., Albert, D., … Teske, A. (2016). Thermal and geochemical influences on microbial biogeography in the hydrothermal sediments of Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California. Environmental Microbiology Reports, 8(1), 150–161. doi:10.1111/1758-2229.12365

  • Salas, E. C., Bhartia, R., Anderson, L., Hug, W. F., Reid, R. D., Iturrino, G., & Edwards, K. J. (2015). In situ Detection of Microbial Life in the Deep Biosphere in Igneous Ocean Crust. Frontiers in Microbiology, 6. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.01260

  • Bhartia, R., W.H. Hug, R.Reid, L. Beegle. (2015). Explosives Detection and Analysis by Fusing Deep UV Native Fluorescence and Resonance Raman Spectroscopy. In E. L. H. P.M. Pellegrino, M.E. Ferrell (Ed.), Laser-based Optical Detection methods of Explosives. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis Group.
  • Marlow, J., & Amend, J. (2015). The Energy of Life. Scientist, 29(2), 40-47.

2015 Teams