[iMetaOmics] ExMODE (https://db.genomics.cn/exmode/) integrates 3518 samples to build a unified extremophile resource, which hosts 1.35 billion habitat-specific non-redundant genes, 5.25 million representative protein structures, 67,026 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), and 164,132 […]
microbiology
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Microbial Evolution, Biogeochemical Functions, And Environmental Adaptations In A Desert Saline Lake On The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau
[biorxiv.org] The Eboliang Hu saline lakes in the hyper-arid Qaidam Basin is a high-altitude, weakly acidic hypersaline system with strong environmental gradients and limited nitrogen availability.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Compositional Heterogeneity Structures Microbial Microhabitats across Distinct Mineral Substrates
[biorxiv.org] Microbial communities living on and in rocks operate at the microscale, where interactions with minerals fundamentally shape community structure and function. Yet the relationship between micron scale mineralogical configurations […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Determining The “Biosignature Threshold” For Life Detection On Biotic, Abiotic, or Prebiotic Worlds.
[Astrobiology (Journal) via PubMed] The field of prebiotic chemistry has demonstrated that complex organic chemical systems that exhibit various life-like properties can be produced abiotically in the laboratory.
Posted inPlanetary Protection & Biosafety
Functional Profiling Of Spacecraft Cleanroom Microbiomes Through Genome‑wide Phenotype Predictions
[biorxiv.org] Current planetary protection approaches rely heavily on spore-based tests developed for Mars missions and may not adequately assess contamination risks for icy ocean worlds such as Europa.
Posted inMoon
Potential Survivable Niches For Microbial Life On The Lunar South Pole
[astro-ph.EP]. Most lunar surface conditions are incredibly harsh for microbial survival. High ultraviolet radiation, temperatures, and energetic particle radiation limit survival over most unprotected lunar surfaces, particularly in equatorial regions […]
Posted inPlanetary Protection & Biosafety
Predicting Fungal Contaminants for Space Missions Using Proteome-Wide Screening for Protein Orthologs
[biorxiv.org]. Fungal contamination poses a growing threat to spacecraft integrity, crew health, and planetary protection efforts.
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Cultivation Of Halophilic Archaea In Shallow Subsurface Martian Conditions Has Implications For Extant Life On Mars
[biorxiv.org] The present-day martian surface is generally considered inhospitable to life because of low atmospheric pressure, intense surface radiation, global desiccation, and oxidizing chemistry which has been increasing since the […]
Posted inPlanetary Protection & Biosafety
Human-Related Microbes May Survive At The Moon’s South Pole
[NASA] Some of Earth’s microbes likely to hitch a ride to space with human explorers could survive in the shaded nooks and crannies of the Moon’s South Pole region, NASA […]
![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)
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Extremophiles: Life Resists Chemistry Not Conditions
[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 […]