Perchlorate-Coupled Carbon Monoxide (CO) Oxidation: Evidence for a Plausible Microbe-Mediated Reaction in Martian Brines.

ABSTRACT: The presence of hydrated salts on Mars indicates that some regions of its surface might be habitable if suitable metabolizable substrates are available. However, several lines of evidence have shown that Mars' regolith contains only trace levels of the organic matter needed to support heterotrophic microbes. Due to the scarcity of organic carbon, carbon monoxide (CO) at a concentration of about 700 parts per million (about 0.4 Pa) might be the single most abundant readily available substrate that could support near-surface bacterial activity. Although a variety of electron acceptors can be coupled to CO oxidation, perchlorate is likely the most abundant potential oxidant in Mars' brines. Whether perchlorate, a potent chaotrope, can support microbial CO oxidation has not been previously doc

SUBMITTER: Myers MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5743682 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature