2019/03/01 by Kennda Lynch, W. Andrew Jackson, Kevin A. Rey +3 · 1 citation
Environmental Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Chemical Analysis and Environmental Impact #Water Treatment and Disinfection #Planetary Science and Exploration
paper · doi:10.1089/ast.2018.1864
openalex publication_date 2019/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
The presence of perchlorate on Mars suggests a possible energy source for sustaining microbial life. Perchlorate-reducing microbes have been isolated from perchlorate-contaminated soils and sediments on the Earth, but to date, never from an environment that is naturally enriched in perchlorate. The arid Pilot Valley paleolake basin in Utah is a Mars analog environment whose sediments are naturally enriched with up to ∼6.5 μg kg −1 perchlorate oxyanions. Here, we present results of field and laboratory studies indicating that perchlorate-reducing microorganisms co-occur with this potential electron acceptor. Biogeochemical data suggest ongoing perchlorate reduction; phylogenetic data indicate the presence of diverse microbial communities; and laboratory enrichments using Pilot Valley sediments show that resident microbes can reduce perchlorate. This is the first article of the co-existence of perchlorate-reducing microbes in an environment where perchlorate occurs naturally, arguing for Pilot Valley's utility as an analog for studying biogeochemical processes that may have occurred, and may yet still be occurring, in ancient martian lacustrine sediments.