Journal of Astrobiology & Outreach

Jesús Medina

Publications

• Research Article
  Survival of Moss Reproductive Structures under Simulated Martian Environmental Conditions and Extreme Thermal Stress: Vibrational Spectroscopic Study and Astrobiological Implications
  Author(s): José María Gómez Gómez, Belén Estébanez, Aurelio Sanz-Arranz, Eva Mateo-Martí, Jesús Medina and Fernando RullJosé María Gómez Gómez, Belén Estébanez, Aurelio Sanz-Arranz, Eva Mateo-Martí, Jesús Medina and Fernando Rull
  
  The principal goal of astrobiology is the search for extraterrestrial life forms. A key aspect is the study of the ability of different kinds of terrestrial organisms to support simulated extraterrestrial environmental conditions. Mosses are multicellular green plants, poorly studied from an astrobiological perspective. In this paper, we report experimental results obtained using two species of moss, which demonstrate that both the spores of the moss Funaria hygrometrica as well as the desiccated vegetative gametophyte shoots of the moss Tortella squarrosa (=Pleurochaete squarrosa) were capable of resisting Simulated Martian Environmental Conditions (SMEC): Mars simulated atmospheric composition 99.9% CO2, and 0.6% H2O with a pressure of 7 mbars, -73ºC and UV irradiation of 30 mW cm-2 in a wavelength range of 200-400 nm .. View More»
  DOI: 10.4172/2332-2519.1000151

  Abstract PDF