UV photobiochemistry of anhydrobiotic organisms at extremely low temperatures

Spores of Bacillus subtilis have been exposed to the conditions of extreme dehydration (argon/silica gel; simulated space vacuum) for up to 12 weeks at 298 K and 80 K in the dark. The inactivation has been correlated with the production of DNA-double strand-breaks. The temperature-dependence of the rate constants for inactivation or production of DNA-double strand-breaks is surprisingly low. Controls kept in the frozen state at 250 K for the same period of time showed no sign of deterioration. In another series of experiments the spores have been UV irradiated (253.7 nm) at 298 K, 200 K and 80 K after exposure to dehydrating conditions for 3 days. Fluence-effect relationships for inactivation, production of DNA-double strand-breaks and DNA-protein cross-links are presented. The corresponding F37-values for inactivation and production of DNA lesions are significantly increased only at 80 K (factor of 4 to 5). The data indicate that the low temperatures that prevail in the outer parts of the Solar System or at the nightside of Mars or the Moon are not sufficiently low to crucially inhibit inactivation by dehydration. Our data place further constraints on the panspermia hypothesis.

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Response ofBacillus subtilis spores to dehydration and UV irradiation at extremely low temperatures

Dose

Klein

1996

Origins Life Evol Biosphere

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Distribution of hydrate on Europa: Further evidence for sulfuric acid hydrate

Carlson

Anderson

Mehlman

et al. 2005

Icarus

131

187

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UV photobiochemistry of anhydrobiotic organisms at extremely low temperatures

Cited by 2 publications

References 9 publications

Response ofBacillus subtilis spores to dehydration and UV irradiation at extremely low temperatures

Response ofBacillus subtilis spores to dehydration and UV irradiation at extremely low temperatures

Distribution of hydrate on Europa: Further evidence for sulfuric acid hydrate

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