BIOTIC SURVIVAL IN THE CRYOBIOSPHERE: PERSPECTIVES FOR INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION IN ASTRO/TERRESTRIAL BIOGEOSCIENCE David Gilichinsky & Elizaveta Rivkina Soil Cryology Lab, Russian Academy of Sciences CRYOSPHERE T<0oC Floating Ice Permafrost Glaciers Snow Cover Soil Cover Ice Sheets TheCryosphere istheonlywidespread andrichterrestrialdepository of ancient organisms and represents a significant part of Biosphere, the Cryobiosphere, where life is confined over geological time The most inhabited part of Cryobiosphere is permafrost stable and balanced environment, which maintains life incomparably longer than any other known habitats 103-8 cell/g 3 Myr 101-2 cell/ml 400 Kyr Permafrost underlies ~20% of the land surface and reaches a thickness of up to 1000 m. This huge frozen volume harbors a great mass of living matter peculiar to permafrost only Permafrost hold potential to archive entrapped viable cells. This natural conservation makes it possible to observe what may be the oldest communities discovered on Earth PERMAFROST BIODIVERSITY Psychrobacter arcticus sp. Clostridium algoriphilum sp. aerobic & anaerobic bacteria Yeast Fungi Cryptococcus albidusSporobolomyces Ulocladium atrum Methanosarcina mazai sp. Methanobacterium veterum sp. Content & isotopic composition of CH4 in the late Cenozoic permafrost PERMAFROST BIODIVERSITY (archaea) mmol/kg Scotiellopsis sp. Oscillatoria sp. PERMAFROST BIODIVERSITY (phototrophs) Cianobacteria Mychonastes sp Nannochloris sp.Gleoecapsae sp. Green algae Stichococcus sp PERMAFROST BIODIVERSITY (free-living protozoa) Colpodea Colpodea Tubulinea Acanthamoebidae Cercozoa Apusomonadidae Bars = 10 µm Ciliates Naked amoebas Heterotrophic flagellates Paleoorganisms within permafrost are resistant to time and to environmental stresses: freezingthawing, thermal impact & radiation Net counts for 14C-labeled acetate incorporation into lipids by the native bacterial population in permafrost Microbial activity below freezing point (Rivkina et al 2000, 2005) CH4-formation in permafrost from NaH14CO3 & Na14CH3CO2 Holocene (4 Ky) early Pleistocene (1.5 My) Bakermans et al 2003; Price & Sowers 2004; Ponder et al 2006; Panikov & Sizova 2007; Johnson et al 2007 simulation experiments: 22.8 Gy/min Co60 -source At equal levels of ionizing radiation,the difference in the quantity of survived cells was ca. one order of magnitude for a dose of 1 kGy: 1&10%frominitialnumber, forthethawedandfrozen(-20oC) samples Taking into account the age of entrapped bacteria, the total dose received by cells range 0.01-0.03 kGy in 10 Kyr old sediments to 4-8 kGy in layers over 3 Myr in age In situ measurements in the boreholes showed that the mean radiation level provided by radio nuclides varies 0.1 to 0.3 µG/h The dose received by cells within the Arctic permafrost with known age µGy/h mGy/yr Age Total dose 0.23 2.0 10 Kyr 0.02 kGy 40 Kyr 0.08 100 Kyr 0.2 200 Kyr 0.4 600 Kyr 1.2 1.0 Myr 2.0 1.8 Myr 3.6 3 Myr 6.0 Permafrost thawing renews aborigen’s activity and exposes ancient life to modern ecosystems Global Change Microbiology Quaternary Geology Cryobiology Ecology Molecular Biology Geocryology Bacterial Paleontology Reproduction of genetic resourcesBiotechnology Biophysics Newly emerging field of Astrobiology THE REASONS & DIRECTIONS FOR RESEARCH The occurrence of viable Cenozoic generation of microorganisms within thepermafrost isintriguing because theirfeaturesmayprovide a window into microbial life as it was before the human’s impact Permafrost biota represents aunique materialforresearchon low temperatureevolution andadaptation, andmaypossess unknown mechanismsthatallow themtomaintainviability overgeological time In the nearest future the genetic recourses will have the same significance as geological recourses Biotechnology The abilities of many nonhalophilic alkaliphilic psychrotolerant strains isolated from Tibet permafrost to produce extracellular protease, amylase and cellulase suggest that they might be of potential value for biotechnological exploitation (Zhang et al 2007) The only environment on the Earth, which is a depository of unaltered microbial communities is permafrost Willerslev et al 2003 Quaternary Geology & Paleoreconstructions Silene stenophylla Pleistocene Park ~30Kyr Reproduction of Genetic Resources Terrestrial planets J o v i a n p l a n e t s PLANETS OF CRYOGENIC TYPE Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranium Neptune PlutoMercury Venus SUN Terrestrial Models and Analogues of Extraterrestrial Habitats and Inhabitants Jupiter Europa Saturn Enceladus If life ever existed on Mars during the early stages of development, then its traces might have been preserved at the cell's level and could be found at depths within the permafrost Probably the Martian permafrost contains the genetic resources of existed life, vanished on the surface due the catastrophic events on the planet The obtained longevity of life preservation assert that during few million years required for Mars to reach the Earth cells could preserve their viability This phenomenon confirms panspermia - the possibility to transport the organisms within the cryogenic meteorites to the Earth If the Space travel is fatal for microorganisms within the frozen ground From the astrobiological perspective, lenses of overcooled brines provide the only opportunity for free water within the permafrost, formed when Mars became dry & cold CRYOPEGS CRYOPEG BIODIVERSITY Aerobic bacteria Psychrobacter cryopegella halotolerant psiychropilic bacterium remains active at -20 C Anaerobic bacteria Clostridium algidum Sulfate reducers detected in cryopegs are halophilic and psychrophilic at the same time T -10oC free water 100%, salinity 170-300%o VOLCANOES m methanogens acetogens sulphate redusers methanogens acetogens sulphate redusers +75oC (cells/g) +6oC (cells/g) 5.5 12 0 0 16 0 0 6.5 14 0 0 311 0 0 7.5 0 142 13 150 0 10 8.5 0 145 1205 19 0 0 9.3 0 110 10 12 0 0 10.5 0 13 100 14 0 14 11.0 0 0 13 15 0 0 12.0 20 0 125 293 0 20 Number of volcano permafrost anaerobic microorganisms growing on СО2+Н2 Methane production from CO2+H2 by enrichment culture of methanogens volcano Ploskii Tolbachik hole 7/02 ANTPAGE - Antarctic Permafrost Age – Implications to the Earth and Planetary Geo/Bio Sciences The climate and geological history of Antarctica were favorable for the formation and persistence of pre-Pliocene permafrost more than 30 Myr The main goal of ANTPAGE project is to find the oldest permafrost, to date these sections and test for the presence of viable microorganisms & DNA Permafrost age: Arctic ~3 Myr Mars ~3 Byr COMRAC 3, Taylor Valley 1/99, Beacon Valley COMRAC 4, Miers Valley COMRAC 8, Mt. Feather VIABLE BACTERIA in ANTARCTIC PERMAFROST: HOW OLD ARE THEY & HOW OLD MIGHT THEY BE? Gilichinsky et al 2007/ASTROBIOLOGY If the ages suggested in Beacon Valley (8.1 Myr) and Mt Feather (5 Myr) are correct, then the microbial communities retrieved from those cores are also as old as the permafrost and, to date, are the oldest viable microorganisms discovered in permafrost on Earth 13C(CH4) -81/-94%o - How long can life be preserved in frozen environment ? - Is life below the freezing point active or dormant ? - What life forms are present ? - Is there a threat to humans, animals, plants from pathogens? - Is there lateral gene transfer from ancient to contemporary bacteria? - Are there any new gene products that can be extracted from ancient microbes (anticancer, antibiotic, industrially useful products)? - Can we directly measure microbial mutation rates over long periods of time? - Can the models and methods developed for detection of microbial life in frozen substrates in situ be directly applied to astrobiology research ____________________________________________ CONCLUSION “Permafrost ecosystem” could be a multidisciplinary bipolar astro/terrestrial bio/geo collaborative project, focused on the following fundamental and applied problems: Terrestrial permafrost models of extraterrestrial (Martian) habitats & inhabitants This hope prototype of Martian inhabitants was installed in 2008-Christmas night on South Polar Cycle: Bunger oasis, Antarctica, 66o36’S, 100o45’E Due the artistic and scientific features the monument is protected from melting by all States - members of Antarctic Treaty THANK YOU FOR ATTENTION !