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Potential for Aerobic Methanotrophic Metabolism on Mars
Observational evidence supports the presence of methane (CH(4)) in the martian atmosphere on the order of parts per billion by volume (ppbv). Here, we assess whether aerobic methanotrophy is a potentially viable metabolism in the martian upper regolith, by calculating metabolic energy gain rates und...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers
2019
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6785171/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31173512 http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ast.2018.1943 |
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author | Seto, Mayumi Noguchi, Katsuyuki Cappellen, Philippe Van |
author_facet | Seto, Mayumi Noguchi, Katsuyuki Cappellen, Philippe Van |
author_sort | Seto, Mayumi |
collection | PubMed |
description | Observational evidence supports the presence of methane (CH(4)) in the martian atmosphere on the order of parts per billion by volume (ppbv). Here, we assess whether aerobic methanotrophy is a potentially viable metabolism in the martian upper regolith, by calculating metabolic energy gain rates under assumed conditions of martian surface temperature, pressure, and atmospheric composition. Using kinetic parameters for 19 terrestrial aerobic methanotrophic strains, we show that even under the imposed low temperature and pressure extremes (180–280 K and 6–11 hPa), methane oxidation by oxygen (O(2)) should in principle be able to generate the minimum energy production rate required to support endogenous metabolism (i.e., cellular maintenance). Our results further indicate that the corresponding metabolic activity would be extremely low, with cell doubling times in excess of 4000 Earth years at the present-day ppbv-level CH(4) mixing ratios in the atmosphere of Mars. Thus, while aerobic methanotrophic microorganisms similar to those found on Earth could theoretically maintain their vital functions, they are unlikely to constitute prolific members of hypothetical martian soil communities. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6785171 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-67851712019-10-10 Potential for Aerobic Methanotrophic Metabolism on Mars Seto, Mayumi Noguchi, Katsuyuki Cappellen, Philippe Van Astrobiology Research Articles Observational evidence supports the presence of methane (CH(4)) in the martian atmosphere on the order of parts per billion by volume (ppbv). Here, we assess whether aerobic methanotrophy is a potentially viable metabolism in the martian upper regolith, by calculating metabolic energy gain rates under assumed conditions of martian surface temperature, pressure, and atmospheric composition. Using kinetic parameters for 19 terrestrial aerobic methanotrophic strains, we show that even under the imposed low temperature and pressure extremes (180–280 K and 6–11 hPa), methane oxidation by oxygen (O(2)) should in principle be able to generate the minimum energy production rate required to support endogenous metabolism (i.e., cellular maintenance). Our results further indicate that the corresponding metabolic activity would be extremely low, with cell doubling times in excess of 4000 Earth years at the present-day ppbv-level CH(4) mixing ratios in the atmosphere of Mars. Thus, while aerobic methanotrophic microorganisms similar to those found on Earth could theoretically maintain their vital functions, they are unlikely to constitute prolific members of hypothetical martian soil communities. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2019-10-01 2019-10-03 /pmc/articles/PMC6785171/ /pubmed/31173512 http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ast.2018.1943 Text en © Mayumi Seto et al., 2019; Published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. This Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Articles Seto, Mayumi Noguchi, Katsuyuki Cappellen, Philippe Van Potential for Aerobic Methanotrophic Metabolism on Mars |
title | Potential for Aerobic Methanotrophic Metabolism on Mars |
title_full | Potential for Aerobic Methanotrophic Metabolism on Mars |
title_fullStr | Potential for Aerobic Methanotrophic Metabolism on Mars |
title_full_unstemmed | Potential for Aerobic Methanotrophic Metabolism on Mars |
title_short | Potential for Aerobic Methanotrophic Metabolism on Mars |
title_sort | potential for aerobic methanotrophic metabolism on mars |
topic | Research Articles |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6785171/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31173512 http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ast.2018.1943 |
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