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A deep microbial " biosphere " lie forget 13 feet ( 4 meter ) beneath the scorched surface of Chile ’s Atacama Desert , unexampled inquiry has discover . The hidden world of bacteria is one of the mystifying found in Atacama soils and could inform the search forlife on Mars .
microbic life has previouslybeen recordeddown to depth of 2.6 feet ( 80 centimeters ) in theAtacama Desert , but the new biosphere , in the part ’s bone - dry Yungay Valley is " completely isolated from the open , " consort to the researchers .
The Yungay Valley region of the Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on Earth.
The newly chance upon community inhabits soils between 6.6 feet ( 2 mebibyte ) and at least 13 foot deep , according to a study , published Tuesday ( April 23 ) in the journalPNAS Nexus . It is dominate by Actinobacteria , a diverse group of bacteria found inother uttermost surroundings , including the Arctic , roil spicy springs and piquant seas .
" trivial is make love about microbial life in deeper sediment layers , " researchers wrote in the bailiwick . " Communities described in this study could represent the upper extent of a deep biosphere underneath hyperarid desert soils . "
The researchers also find Actinobacteria living nearer to the surface , between 0.8 and 2 inches ( 2 to 5 cm ) deep . Digging deeper , the team found bacterium belonging to the phylum Firmicutes , which are resilient to high concentrations of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and do not require O to survive , harmonize to the study .
Researchers took soil samples from the Atacama Desert and sifted through their DNA content to extract only living microbial cells.
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The Atacama Desert is the driest red-hot desert in the world , receivingas much sunshine as Venus . While only a handful of animals survive the harsh atmospheric condition — including Darwin ’s leaf - eared black eye ( Phyllotis darwini ) and the South American grizzly fox ( Lycalopex griseus ) — some bacteria boom in the desert ’s salty , mineral - rich soils .
To regain out more about these microscopic inhabitants , the research worker extracted soil sampling from a pit in the Yungay Valley and pull up any DNA fragment they could find . Previous workplace has not differentiate between desoxyribonucleic acid from living and all in microbes , so the research worker designed a method to separate DNA still contained in livelihood cell — have sex as intracellular DNA — from loose - swim , or extracellular DNA .
" This approach provides a significant improvement for microbic diversity studies of uttermost environments as it effectively eliminates bias from DNA derived from dead cells , " they wrote in the study .
bacterium were abundant in the top 2.6 understructure of soil , but they were virtually absent between 2.6 and 6.6 feet deep , where salt density were too high for even the stalwart microbes . But at the lower profoundness , the researchers discovered a " conversion zone " to a static microbic community . This transition zone coincided with a change from clay - rich grunge bonk as playa deposits to ancient river deposits .
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The team suggest Actinobacteria colonize the river bank deposit around 19,000 ago and became bury beneath playa sediments over 1000 of years . They also nominate that the bug hold out at depth by extracting water from gypsum , which forms when the mineral anhydrite is let on to water . This response is two-sided at high temperature , which could release water within Atacama soils .
The Atacama desert is often used as ananalog for studying the harsh consideration of Mars , where the surface is altogether exanimate , but mayhide evidence of microbial lifebelow . The new research could further inform the lookup for life on the Red Planet , as Mars also has gypsum deposits , which could potentially serve as a water reservoir for extraterrestrial life , the investigator notice in the study .
" To our cognition , this represents the deepest microbial survey and discovery of microbial life in Atacama soils to this day , " they added .
