Living microbes found in the driest desert on Earth

Desolate, arid and virtually lifeless – that’s how one would traditionally describe the Atacama Desert. Stretching across the Pacific coast in Chile, this unforgiving territory is known as the driest spot on our planet. It’s no surprise that the desert is deemed hostile to most forms of life.

Yet, a closer look at the sandy soil reveals a perfect paradox – a diverse community of resilient microorganisms, thriving in the seeming desolation.

Investigating the function of these microorganisms can be challenging. Modern science tools often hit a wall while trying to separate the genetic material of the living from the dead in this microbial community.

But now, a promising solution to this mystery is at hand.

Identifying the desert microbes

Presented this week in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, an international team of researchers announces a novel separation technique.

This innovative method distinguishes extracellular (eDNA) from intracellular (iDNA) genetic material, casting a spotlight on the living members of the elusive microbial community.

The technique is a game-changer in studying microbial life in low-biomass environments – an area where conventional DNA extraction methods have been falling short.

The research was led by Dr. Dirk Wagner from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam. He believes this development could usher in a new era in microbial research.

Active life in arid regions of desert

The microbiologists put their novel method to practice on soil samples collected from the Atacama Desert, running along a west-to-east path from the ocean’s edge to the foothills of the Andes mountains.

What they found was intriguing: a variety of potentially active microbes were discovered in the most arid regions of the desert.

“Microbes are the pioneers colonizing this kind of environment and preparing the ground for the next succession of life,” said Dr. Wagner. He noted that these processes aren’t exclusive to desert lands.

“This could also apply to new terrain that forms after earthquakes or landslides where you have more or less the same situation, a mineral or rock-based substrate.”

New approach to DNA extraction

Conventional tools for DNA extraction from soils often present a blend of living, dormant and dead cells from microorganisms.

“If you extract all the DNA, you have DNA from living organisms and also DNA that can represent organisms that just died or died a long time ago,” explained Dr. Wagner.

The formidable challenge, especially in low-biomass environments, is securing sufficient good-quality DNA for metagenomic sequencing to unravel specific microbes and their processes.

Dr. Wagner and his team have found a way around this by creating a process that filters out intact cells from a mixture, leaving behind eDNA genetic fragments from dead cells.

Implications for extraterrestrial life

The significance of this research extends far beyond Earthly environments.

The techniques developed for distinguishing living microbial communities in the Atacama Desert could offer a tantalizing approach to astrobiology, a field dedicated to exploring life beyond our planet.

Mars, with its barren and inhospitable terrain, presents a setting not unlike parts of the Atacama. Here, scientists speculate that if life ever arose, it might have persisted in microbial form beneath the surface.

By applying this novel genetic separation technique, future missions to Mars could possibly identify signs of life that traditional methods might overlook, thus advancing our understanding of life’s potential in the cosmos.

Charting future research

The advent of this cutting-edge method represents a paradigm shift in microbial ecology and environmental microbiology.

It opens up new avenues for research, not only in desolate regions like the Atacama Desert but also in other extreme environments such as Antarctic ice, deep-ocean vents, and arid regions worldwide.

By accurately categorizing active microorganisms, we can better understand their roles in nutrient cycling, climate change, and biogeochemical processes.

This refined approach provides a critical tool for scientists aiming to unravel the life forms that have evolved to thrive against the odds. It also lays the groundwork for future discoveries at the intersections of life, earth, and space sciences.

Vibrant life beneath Atacama Desert

Dr. Wagner plans to extend the study’s methodology to other hostile environments. He believes that this technique, which focuses on active microorganisms (iDNA), can provide deeper insights into the active part of the community.

By examining the vibrant life thriving beneath the surface of the Atacama Desert, we are slowly unearthing the secret resilience of microbes in the most arid of environments.

As we continue to witness the incredible adaptation and survival of life in the harshest of conditions, the lines of possibility for microbial life continue to expand, taking us one step deeper into unraveling the mysteries of life itself.

The study is published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

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