Microbial ecology Archives - Astrobiology

Golden Dome Cave (2,229 ft / 679 m) One of the "Moderately Challenging Caves." -- National Park Service

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report

Draft Genome Sequence Of A Member Of A Putatively Novel Rubrobacteraceae Genus From Lava Tubes In Lava Beds National Monument

by Keith CowingMay 1, 2025

We report the draft genome sequence of a member of a potentially novel genus of Rubrobacteraceae isolated from Golden Dome Cave in Lava Beds National Monument. Members of this family […]

(A and B) Circular phylogenetic tree of the microbial community composition exemplarily for the surface layer (0–5 cm depth) in Yungay (0.1% abundance); color codes reflect microbial classes (A). Clades unique to the e- or iDNA are shown in (B). Additionally, red and blue stars indicated predominate eDNA and iDNA clades in (A). NA means no taxonomic class. -- Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Sample Return, Status Report

Living Microbes Discovered In Earth’s Driest Desert

by Keith CowingNovember 18, 2024January 11, 2026

The Atacama Desert, which runs along the Pacific Coast in Chile, is the driest place on the planet and, largely because of that aridity, hostile to most living things. Not […]

Field emission scanning electron microscopy images of “Grotta Catanese I” (GC) samples. Representative FESEM images of the studied samples, depicting A Actinobacteria-like coccoid (with 1-μm diameter) and rod-shaped cells with spiny ornamentation (GC1_1A); B filaments with hairy ornamentation, intermingled with coccoid cells (GC1_1A); and C, D clusters of the diatom Orthoseira roeseana and Humidophila (GC1_2) -- Microbial Ecology via PubMed

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Status Report

First Insights Into The Bacterial Diversity of Mount Etna Volcanic Caves

by Keith CowingJune 13, 2024June 13, 2024

While microbial communities in limestone caves across the world are relatively understood, knowledge of the microbial composition in lava tubes is lagging behind. These caves are found in volcanic regions […]

Ames scientists and students from the Undergraduate Student Research Program and Foothill DeAnza Community College worked with the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant, Calif., to measure the methane oxidized by microbes in its open ponds. Image credit: Drew Detweiler

Commercial & Private Sector, Life Support Systems, Microbiology & Virology, Plant Biology, Press Release

NASA’s Astrobiology Research Sparks ‘GreenTech’ Revolution

by Keith CowingMarch 12, 2012April 13, 2024

NASA’s astrobiologists study microbial life to understand how it transformed a rocky Earth into the thriving, diverse, life-sustaining planet we inhabit today. These studies of photosynthetic ‘green’ algae are creating […]