Transitory microbial habitat in the hyperarid Atacama Desert

Media type: E-Article
Title: Transitory microbial habitat in the hyperarid Atacama Desert
Contributor: Schulze-Makuch, Dirk; Wagner, Dirk; Kounaves, Samuel P.; Mangelsdorf, Kai; Devine, Kevin G.; de Vera, Jean-Pierre; Schmitt-Kopplin, Philippe; Grossart, Hans-Peter; Parro, Victor; Kaupenjohann, Martin; Galy, Albert; Schneider, Beate; Airo, Alessandro; Frösler, Jan; Davila, Alfonso F.; Arens, Felix L.; Cáceres, Luis; Cornejo, Francisco Solís; Carrizo, Daniel; Dartnell, Lewis; DiRuggiero, Jocelyne; Flury, Markus; Ganzert, Lars; Gessner, Mark O.; [...]
imprint: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018
Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Language: English
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1714341115
ISSN: 1091-6490; 0027-8424
Origination:
Footnote:
Description: <jats:title>Significance</jats:title> <jats:p>It has remained an unresolved question whether microorganisms recovered from the most arid environments on Earth are thriving under such extreme conditions or are just dead or dying vestiges of viable cells fortuitously deposited by atmospheric processes. Based on multiple lines of evidence, we show that indigenous microbial communities are present and temporally active even in the hyperarid soils of the Atacama Desert (Chile). Following extremely rare precipitation events in the driest parts of this desert, where rainfall often occurs only once per decade, we were able to detect episodic incidences of biological activity. Our findings expand the range of hyperarid environments temporarily habitable for terrestrial life, which by extension also applies to other planetary bodies like Mars.</jats:p>
Access State: Open Access

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