MICROBIAL DENSITY IN SAMPLES FROM EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS AND AMENABILITY TO IN SITU CHEMICAL EXTRACTION AND FLUORESCENT DETECTION

2005 Salt Lake City Annual Meeting (October 16–19, 2005)
Paper No. 118-9

Presentation Time: 4:00 PM-4:20 PM

MICROBIAL DENSITY IN SAMPLES FROM EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS AND AMENABILITY TO IN SITU CHEMICAL EXTRACTION AND FLUORESCENT DETECTION
NADEAU, Jay L., Biomedical Engineering/Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Lyman Duff Room 316, 3775 Rue University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada, jay.nadeau@mcgill.ca and SUN, Henry J., Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Desert Research Institute, 755 East Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89119 The collection of samples from a variety of extreme environments has revealed certain geological and geobiological formations in which the density of microbial life is significantly enhanced. These include Antarctic endoliths, desert cryptogamic crusts, and gypsum-inhabiting cyanobacteria. These studies aid the selection of choices of samples to target via robotic sampling on other planets, either for in situ study or sample return. The challenge for the former is to be able to process the samples in a manner that disrupts the communities as little as possible while permitting unambiguous detection of microbes. We present several methods for fluorescent imaging of rock and soil samples designed to maximize microbial visibility while minimizing robotic sample preparation and destruction of the sample.
2005 Salt Lake City Annual Meeting (October 16–19, 2005) General Information for this Meeting

Session No. 118 Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Environments for Microbial Survival II Salt Palace Convention Center: Ballroom J 1:30 PM-5:30 PM, Monday, 17 October 2005 Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 37, No. 7, p. 268
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