A small percentage of fungal cells were still able to divide after exposure to Mars-like conditions aboard the International Space Station.
Dried samples of the Antarctic-dwelling black fungi Cryomyces antarcticus and Cryomyces minteri, which live inside rocks, were exposed for 18 months to a simulated Martian atmosphere of 95% carbon dioxide, as well as high levels of ultraviolet and cosmic radiation. Silvano Onofri at the University of Tuscia in Viterbo, Italy, and his colleagues found that less than 10% of the samples divided and formed colonies after their return to Earth. However, up to two-thirds of the cells remained intact and yielded stable DNA.
The findings could inform future searches for evidence of life on Mars, the authors say.
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Fungus survives simulated Mars. Nature 530, 8 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/530008b
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/530008b