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  4. Unveiling Challenging Microbial Fossil Biosignatures from Rio Tinto with Micro-to-Nanoscale Chemical and Ultrastructural Imaging
 
research article

Unveiling Challenging Microbial Fossil Biosignatures from Rio Tinto with Micro-to-Nanoscale Chemical and Ultrastructural Imaging

Maldanis, Lara
•
Fernández-Remolar, David
•
Lemelle, Laurence
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July 10, 2024
Astrobiology

Understanding the nature and preservation of microbial traces in extreme environments is crucial for reconstructing Earth's early biosphere and for the search for life on other planets or moons. At Rio Tinto, southwestern Spain, ferric oxide and sulfate deposits similar to those discovered at Meridiani Planum, Mars, entomb a diversity of fossilized organisms, despite chemical conditions commonly thought to be challenging for life and fossil preservation. Investigating this unique fossil microbiota can elucidate ancient extremophile communities and the preservation of biosignatures in acidic environments on Earth and, potentially, Mars. In this study, we use an innovative multiscale approach that combines the state-of-the-art synchrotron X-ray nanoimaging methods of ptychographic X-ray computed laminography and nano-X-ray fluorescence to reveal Rio Tinto's microfossils at subcellular resolution. The unprecedented nanoscale views of several different specimens within their geological and geochemical contexts reveal novel intricacies of preserved microbial communities. Different morphotypes, ecological interactions, and possible taxonomic affinities were inferred based on qualitative and quantitative 3D ultrastructural information, whereas diagenetic processes and metabolic affinities were inferred from complementary chemical information. Our integrated nano-to-microscale analytical approach revealed previously invisible microbial and mineral interactions, which complemented and filled a gap of spatial resolution in conventional methods. Ultimately, this study contributes to the challenge of deciphering the faint chemical and morphological biosignatures that can indicate life's presence on the early Earth and on distant worlds.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1089/ast.2023.0127
Web of Science ID

WOS:001265333800001

PubMed ID

38985734

Author(s)
Maldanis, Lara

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Fernández-Remolar, David

Macau University of Science & Technology

Lemelle, Laurence

Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1

Knoll, Andrew H.

Harvard University

Guizar-Sicairos, Manuel  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Holler, Mirko

Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain

da Silva, Francisco Mateus Cirilo

Campinas Univ

Magnin, Valerie

Communaute Universite Grenoble Alpes

Mermoux, Michel

Universite Gustave-Eiffel

Simionovici, Alexandre

Institut Universitaire de France

Date Issued

2024-07-10

Publisher

MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC

Published in
Astrobiology
Volume

24

Issue

7

Start page

721

End page

733

Subjects

Fossil Biosignatures

•

Microfossils

•

Geomicrobiology

•

Mars

•

Rio Tinto

•

Multiscale

•

X-Ray Nanoimaging

•

Ptychographic X-Ray Computed Laminography

•

Nano-X-Ray Fluorescence

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
CXI  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR)

ANR-15-IDEX-02

Sprint Mobility Project, FAPESP/Universite Grenoble Alpes

2019/23611-1

National Key Research & Development Program of China

2021YFA0716100

Available on Infoscience
February 1, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/246287
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