极端类生物能够在与火星撞击诱导的喷射相关的短暂压力下生存
Lily Zhao1,2, Cesar A Perez-Fernandez3, Jocelyne DiRuggiero3,4
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
PNAS nexus
|March 5, 2026
概括
微生物可以在极端冲击压力下生存,这挑战了关于生命的先前假设.
科学领域:
- 天体生物学 天体生物学
- 地质物理学 地质物理学
- 微生物学 微生物学
背景情况:
- 撞击事件在太阳系中很常见.
- 在撞击条件下微生物的生存对于天体生物学和泛精子来说至关重要.
- 以前的实验限制阻碍了对微生物抗冲击压力的研究.
研究的目的:
- 通过实验评估微生物对冲击引起的极端压力的生存能力和反应.
- 为了研究 *Deinococcus radiodurans* 对高压,短时间冲击事件的弹性.
- 为了告知行星保护,寻找外星生命的搜索,以及lithopanspermia假说.
主要方法:
- 开发了一种实验方法,将微生物置于受控的极端压力下.
- 检索并分析受影响的微生物生存率和结构损伤.
- 利用转录分析来研究对冲击压力的分子反应.
主要成果:
- *Deinococcus radiodurans*表现出显著的生存能力和活力,最高可达3GPa.
- 在*D. radiodurans*中,增加的压力与增加的生物压力指标相关.
- 微生物可以在比以前想象的更极端的条件下生存,包括喷射物形成.
结论:
- 微生物生命可以承受比预期的高得多的冲击压力.
- 这些发现对行星保护和地球外生命的潜力有重大影响.
- 这项研究支持了lithopanspermia的可能性,即生命通过撞击在天体之间转移.
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