Cellular Responses of the Lichen Circinaria gyrosa in Mars-Like Conditions
Lichens are extremely resistant organisms that colonize harsh climatic areas, some of them defined as “Mars-analog sites.” There still remain many unsolved questions as to how lichens survive under such extreme conditions. Several studies have been performed to test the resistance of various lichen species under space and in simulated Mars-like conditions. The results led to the proposal that Circinaria gyrosa (Lecanoromycetes, Ascomycota) is one of the most durable astrobiological model lichens. However, although C. gyrosa has been exposed to Mars-like environmental conditions while in a latent state, it has not been exposed in its physiologically active mode. We hypothesize that the astrobiological test system “Circinaria gyrosa,” could be able to be physiologically active and to survive under Mars-like conditions in a simulation chamber, based on previous studies performed at dessicated-dormant stage under simulated Mars-like conditions, that showed a complete recover of the PSII activity (Sánchez et al., 2012). Epifluorescence and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) showed that living algal cells were more abundant in samples exposed to niche conditions, which simulated the conditions in micro-fissures and micro-caves close to the surface that have limited scattered or time-dependent light exposure, than in samples exposed to full UV radiation. The medulla was not structurally affected, suggesting that the niche exposure conditions did not disturb the lichen thalli structure and morphology as revealed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). In addition, changes in the lichen thalli chemical composition were determined by analytical pyrolysis. The chromatograms resulting from analytical pyrolysis at 500°C revealed that lichen samples exposed to niche conditions and full UV radiation consisted primarily of glycosidic compounds, lipids, and sterols, which are typical constituents of the cell walls. However, specific differences could be detected and used as markers of the UV-induced damage to the lichen membranes. Based on its viability responses after rehydration, our study shows that the test lichen survived the 30-day incubation in the Mars chamber particularly under niche conditions. However, the photobiont was not able to photosynthesize under the Mars-like conditions, which indicates that the surface of Mars is not a habitable place for C. gyrosa.
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dig-irnas-es-10261-1616702021-12-28T15:52:40Z Cellular Responses of the Lichen Circinaria gyrosa in Mars-Like Conditions De la Torre Noetzel, R. Miller, A. Z. Rosa Arranz, José M. de la Pacelli, Claudia Onofri, Silvano Sancho, Leopoldo G. Cubero, Beatriz Wojcik, A. Walter, David Vera, Jean-Pierre de Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (España) Lichens are extremely resistant organisms that colonize harsh climatic areas, some of them defined as “Mars-analog sites.” There still remain many unsolved questions as to how lichens survive under such extreme conditions. Several studies have been performed to test the resistance of various lichen species under space and in simulated Mars-like conditions. The results led to the proposal that Circinaria gyrosa (Lecanoromycetes, Ascomycota) is one of the most durable astrobiological model lichens. However, although C. gyrosa has been exposed to Mars-like environmental conditions while in a latent state, it has not been exposed in its physiologically active mode. We hypothesize that the astrobiological test system “Circinaria gyrosa,” could be able to be physiologically active and to survive under Mars-like conditions in a simulation chamber, based on previous studies performed at dessicated-dormant stage under simulated Mars-like conditions, that showed a complete recover of the PSII activity (Sánchez et al., 2012). Epifluorescence and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) showed that living algal cells were more abundant in samples exposed to niche conditions, which simulated the conditions in micro-fissures and micro-caves close to the surface that have limited scattered or time-dependent light exposure, than in samples exposed to full UV radiation. The medulla was not structurally affected, suggesting that the niche exposure conditions did not disturb the lichen thalli structure and morphology as revealed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). In addition, changes in the lichen thalli chemical composition were determined by analytical pyrolysis. The chromatograms resulting from analytical pyrolysis at 500°C revealed that lichen samples exposed to niche conditions and full UV radiation consisted primarily of glycosidic compounds, lipids, and sterols, which are typical constituents of the cell walls. However, specific differences could be detected and used as markers of the UV-induced damage to the lichen membranes. Based on its viability responses after rehydration, our study shows that the test lichen survived the 30-day incubation in the Mars chamber particularly under niche conditions. However, the photobiont was not able to photosynthesize under the Mars-like conditions, which indicates that the surface of Mars is not a habitable place for C. gyrosa. The authors acknowledge the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO, project SUBLIMAS ESP2015-69810-R). AM and JR thank the MINECO for the Juan de la Cierva–Incorporación (IJCI-2014-20443) and Ramón y Cajal (RYC-2014-16338) post-doctoral contracts, respectively. The authors are grateful to Dr. Ronald Charles Wolf for English improvement. CP and SO thank ASI grant BIOMEX-MCF n. 2013-063-R.0. Peer reviewed 2018-03-06T07:13:53Z 2018-03-06T07:13:53Z 2018-03-05 artículo http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 Frontiers in Microbiology 2018 1664-302X http://hdl.handle.net/10261/161670 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00308 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100010198 29556220 en #PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE# #PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE# #PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE# info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MINECO/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016/ESP2015-69810-R info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MINECO/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016/IJCI-2014-20443 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MINECO/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016/RYC-2014-16338 Publisher's version https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00308 Sí open Frontiers Media |
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Lichens are extremely resistant organisms that colonize harsh climatic areas, some of them defined as “Mars-analog sites.” There still remain many unsolved questions as to how lichens survive under such extreme conditions. Several studies have been performed to test the resistance of various lichen species under space and in simulated Mars-like conditions. The results led to the proposal that Circinaria gyrosa (Lecanoromycetes, Ascomycota) is one of the most durable astrobiological model lichens. However, although C. gyrosa has been exposed to Mars-like environmental conditions while in a latent state, it has not been exposed in its physiologically active mode. We hypothesize that the astrobiological test system “Circinaria gyrosa,” could be able to be physiologically active and to survive under Mars-like conditions in a simulation chamber, based on previous studies performed at dessicated-dormant stage under simulated Mars-like conditions, that showed a complete recover of the PSII activity (Sánchez et al., 2012). Epifluorescence and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) showed that living algal cells were more abundant in samples exposed to niche conditions, which simulated the conditions in micro-fissures and micro-caves close to the surface that have limited scattered or time-dependent light exposure, than in samples exposed to full UV radiation. The medulla was not structurally affected, suggesting that the niche exposure conditions did not disturb the lichen thalli structure and morphology as revealed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). In addition, changes in the lichen thalli chemical composition were determined by analytical pyrolysis. The chromatograms resulting from analytical pyrolysis at 500°C revealed that lichen samples exposed to niche conditions and full UV radiation consisted primarily of glycosidic compounds, lipids, and sterols, which are typical constituents of the cell walls. However, specific differences could be detected and used as markers of the UV-induced damage to the lichen membranes. Based on its viability responses after rehydration, our study shows that the test lichen survived the 30-day incubation in the Mars chamber particularly under niche conditions. However, the photobiont was not able to photosynthesize under the Mars-like conditions, which indicates that the surface of Mars is not a habitable place for C. gyrosa. |
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Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (España) |
author_facet |
Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (España) De la Torre Noetzel, R. Miller, A. Z. Rosa Arranz, José M. de la Pacelli, Claudia Onofri, Silvano Sancho, Leopoldo G. Cubero, Beatriz Wojcik, A. Walter, David Vera, Jean-Pierre de |
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artículo |
author |
De la Torre Noetzel, R. Miller, A. Z. Rosa Arranz, José M. de la Pacelli, Claudia Onofri, Silvano Sancho, Leopoldo G. Cubero, Beatriz Wojcik, A. Walter, David Vera, Jean-Pierre de |
spellingShingle |
De la Torre Noetzel, R. Miller, A. Z. Rosa Arranz, José M. de la Pacelli, Claudia Onofri, Silvano Sancho, Leopoldo G. Cubero, Beatriz Wojcik, A. Walter, David Vera, Jean-Pierre de Cellular Responses of the Lichen Circinaria gyrosa in Mars-Like Conditions |
author_sort |
De la Torre Noetzel, R. |
title |
Cellular Responses of the Lichen Circinaria gyrosa in Mars-Like Conditions |
title_short |
Cellular Responses of the Lichen Circinaria gyrosa in Mars-Like Conditions |
title_full |
Cellular Responses of the Lichen Circinaria gyrosa in Mars-Like Conditions |
title_fullStr |
Cellular Responses of the Lichen Circinaria gyrosa in Mars-Like Conditions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cellular Responses of the Lichen Circinaria gyrosa in Mars-Like Conditions |
title_sort |
cellular responses of the lichen circinaria gyrosa in mars-like conditions |
publisher |
Frontiers Media |
publishDate |
2018-03-05 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/161670 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100010198 |
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