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Content archived on 2024-05-29

Biosignal formation: the role of the sulfur cycle in microbial mats

Objective

"Study of the origin, evolution and distribution depends on presence of biosignatures ' chemical, isotopic, mineralogical, or structural features uniquely attributable to life. Investigations of terrestrial biosignatures will help to define potential biosignals for use in telescopic exploration of distant planets and to discern the evolutionary trajectory of life on Earth. The greatest potential for widespread and abundant production of biosignals arises in photosynthetic biospheres, because they can be by orders of magnitude more productive than their non-photosynthetic counterparts. Photosynthetic microbial mats provide an ideal model system to study the generation of biosignals in a photosynthetic biosphere. Microbial mats are highly structured, metabolic ally diverse assemblages of microorganisms comprising a complete ecosystem and complete elemental cycles at a microscale. Capturing such diverse metabolic capabilities within a single system gives us the best chance for assessing a broad range of possible biosignals, and for understanding the mechanisms of their formation. The small scale of mats allows to study the effect of environmental conditions on a range of processes within controlled laboratory settings, but at a complete ecosystem scale. Mats have dominated Earth's biosphere for most of its history. The chemical evolution of our planet was probably more influenced by microbial mats and related assemblages than by any other biosphere. Understanding the function and ruling parameters of such mats now will aid interpreting the fossil life record and understanding the means by which we came to this point. The proposed research would characterize the impact of S-cycling on the formation of volatile and solid biosignatures in microbial mats. The proposed work will be supported by a network of context-providing measurements, and will provide an important insight in the complete story of biosignature formation in photosynthetic systems."

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Topic(s)

Call for proposal

FP6-2004-MOBILITY-6
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

OIF - Marie Curie actions-Outgoing International Fellowships

Coordinator

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN DENMARK
EU contribution
No data
Total cost
No data

Participants (1)