Abstract
Our project aims to search for methane-oxidizing microbes on the Mars surface. The project is in preparation under the scheme of the MELOS working group. Martian soil will be sampled from a depth of about 5 - 10 cm below the surface, where organisms are expected to be protected from the harsh hyper-oxidative environment of the Mars surface. The soils will be stained with a cocktail of fluorescent reagents, and examined by fluorescence microscopy. A combination of fluorescent dyes has been selected to identify life forms in samples. A combination of dyes will be used to detect membranes surrounding the “cell”. A substrate dye that emits fluorescence upon cleavage by a catalytic reaction will be used to detect the catalytic activity of the “cell”. This combination will also be useful for detecting pre-biotic organic material as well as remnants of ancient Martian life. Hydrolysis of the polymers in the “cell” followed by HPLC for amino acid analysis will be effective for examining whether Martian life is identical to or different from terrestrial life. The number and type of the amino acids as well as their chirality will be analyzed to distinguish whether the polymers are contaminants from Earth.
