It is unknown if anything lived on Mars. And the current environment, with harsh temperatures, intense radiation and sparse atmospheres, cannot withstand accurately for life. Despite the brutality of the Red Planet, lichens that live in some of the harshest environments on Earth could survive there.
Liches are symbionts, or two cooperative creatures. It has fungal components (mostly around 90% fungi) and photosynthetic components (algae or cyanobacteria). To see if some species of lichens have what they need to survive on Mars, a team of researchers led by botanist Kaja Skubawa used the Space Research Centre at the Polish Academy of Sciences to expose the lichen species diploschistes muscorum and Cetrarea Aculeata Simulates the Mars state.
“Our study is the first to demonstrate that the metabolism of fungal partners in lichen symbiosis was active while in an environment like Mars,” the researcher said in A. study It was recently published in IMA bacteria. “The X-rays associated with solar flares and SEP reaching Mars should not affect the potential habitability of this planet’s lichen.”
Ionizing radiation on Mars is life-threatening in most forms, as it can cause damage at the cellular level. It can also interfere with physical, genetic, morphological, and biochemical processes depending on the organism and radiation level.
Going to extremes
Liches have an advantage when it comes to survival. They share properties with other organisms that can handle high levels of stress, including low metabolism, and do not require much nutritional disruption or lifespan. Like slow gigrades, lichens can remain dry for a long time until rehydrated. Other lichen adaptations to extreme conditions include metabolites that screen for melanin pigments that protect against ultraviolet and radiation.
