![Effects of physicochemical stressors on the main categories of cellular macromolecules (see Table 1 for further details; figure uses images from Servier Medical Art). Multiple stressors can induce the same primary effect, therefore adaptations in response to a natural selection pressure for one stressor may render the same organism resistant to all stressors producing the same type of damage. White stars indicate chemical processes that are aggravated in the presence of oxygen due to altered system chemistry, meaning that in anoxic environments such effects are reduced or negligible. -- [FEMS Microbes]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Extremophiles-Life-resists.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
[FEMS Microbes] Extremophiles are used to study both the limits of life and its potential elsewhere. Categories are commonly employed to describe extreme conditions, however, changing the focus to the […]
Microbiology & Virology
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Metagenomics Deciphers Diagenetic Processes Of Ferruginous Mineralization In The Deep Biosphere
[Nature Communications Earth & Environment] Ferruginous conditions in the Precambrian oceans gave rise to ancient iron formations that contain the oldest recognized traces of life in the form of mineral […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Assessing Cell Survival And Biosignature Preservation Of The Extremely Thermoacidophilic Archaeon Acidianus Manzaensis After Exposure To Mars-like Conditions
[FEMS Microbes via PubMed] Considering the harsh surface conditions on Mars, terrestrial organisms that can survive and remain detectable after exposure to similar conditions provide invaluable models for guiding current […]
Posted inMicrobiology & Virology
Microbial Dispersion Via Aerosolization As An Evolutionary Trait
[Frontiers] Airborne dispersion of microorganisms is a constant ecologically significant global process.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Orbital Biosignature Assay: Pyramid Lake in Bloom
[NASA] The OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on the Landsat 9 satellite acquired this natural-color image of the bloom in October 2024. One day earlier, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe noted […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Micropeloidal Textures – Definition, Formation And Potential As Biosignatures
[Earth-Science Reviews] Microbial biosignatures result from the interactions between microbial populations, metabolic processes, organic and mineral products, and the surrounding physicochemical environment.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Biosignature Reservoirs In The Rozel Point Tar Seeps At Great Salt Lake, Utah
[Frontiers in Microbiology] On the north shore of Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA, naturally occurring tar seeps at Rozel Point provide an opportunity to study a petroleum-rich environment adjacent to […]
![Distribution and protein structures of ancestral energy conservation enzymes in bacteria and archaea. For escape as free-living cells, metabolism had to achieve the state of a balanced stoichiometric reaction145, called redox balance in physiology, and the exergonic reactions of electron transfer from H2 to CO2 needed to be coupled to the pumping of ions from the inside of the cell to the outside (chemiosmotic coupling), as in modern cells. Prior to the coupling of CO2 reduction to ion pumping, the natural pH gradient provided by serpentinizing systems (pH 9–11, vs. sea water (pH 6.5146) was harnessable with the help of simple, abiotically synthesized hydrophobics147,148 such as fatty acids, which were recently shown to support the ATP-synthesizing function of a rotor-stator ATPase149. -- [q-bio.PE]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Intermediate.png?resize=1200%2C721&ssl=1)
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Intermediate Stages In The Origin Of Metabolism At A Phosphorylating Hydrothermal Vent
[q-bio.PE] The origin of life required the emergence of metabolism, an autocatalytic network of enzymatic reactions that synthesize amino acids, nucleotides and cofactors. At the origin of metabolism there were […]
![Bold black letters illustrate amino acids that are deduced as early by the approach, while red letters indicate late additions to the alphabet according to the approach (C* implies possible prebiotic synthesis under specific and narrow conditions [4]). Regular black letters represent amino acids that have not been resolved as either early or late by the approach. LUCA: last universal common ancestor; LECA: last eukaryotic common ancestor; rTCA: tricarboxylic acid cycle. -- Trends in Genetics](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Reconstructing.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
Reconstructing Ancient Protein Alphabets: What Can We Truly Infer?
[Trends in Genetics] The canonical amino acid alphabet has remained remarkably stable since life’s early stages, yet the factors that shaped its emergence remain debated. Early views emphasized prebiotic availability […]
Posted inMicrobiology & Virology
Offworld Microbiology: Staphylococcus Aureus Biofilm Studies
[NASA] Preflight image of Syto9 staining of Staphylococcus aureus biofilm as part of ODYSSEY, an investigation that evaluates biofilm formation and exchange of genetic material among two species of bacteria […]