Task Progress:
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A critical component to long-duration deep space exploration, specifically on Mars, is developing self-sustainable in situ food production and life support systems. To accomplish this task, it will be necessary to understand how to optimally integrate plant-microbe systems with planetary in situ resources. The overarching goal of this pilot study is to develop and assess an integrated system approach for pre-conditioning and structuring Martian regolith into agriculturally stable and usable soil to support plant growth, sustain microbe-plant interactions, minimize plant stress, and optimize food production and life support. As a part of this study, we will test a microbial consortium derived from a natural perchlorate-reducing system as a pre-inoculant for mitigating perchlorate toxins in Martian regolith simulant. We will also evaluate the phased approach of introducing pioneer species and plant beneficial micro-organisms as an intermediate structure-building step for transforming Martian regolith into a viable agricultural substrate that will reduce plant stress and increase seed germination rates and overall biomass production. The results of this study will pave the way for long-term sustainable crop production in a Martian habitat.
The Phase 1 laboratory setup and all major instruments (including the anaerobic chamber) have been calibrated. We've researched and tested rapid 16 sequencing of Phase 1 samples using the Oxford Nanopore Flongle sequencing platform, as well as best practices for analysis of Nanopore 16S and shotgun data using rapid kits and compared datasets from mock microbial communities. Sediment samples from the Pilot Valley (PV) field site have been collected for initiation of the Phase 1 experiment and are currently being pre-conditioned for the initiation of Phase 1.
The Phase 2 and 3 growing system has been set up and calibrated to successfully establish ideal conditions for the growth of lettuce. In addition to lettuce, pilot growouts of identified pioneer species have been conducted to assess potential water flow changes induced by these pioneer species in the regolith and to see which one of these species would be the most reliable initial colonizer.
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Abstracts for Journals and Proceedings
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Lopez J.M, Lynch KL, Malo KE. "Plants, planets, and perchlorates." Texas Area Planetary Science Meeting, San Antonio, TX, August 17-18, 2023. Lightening Talk Abstracts.Texas Area Planetary Science Meeting, San Antonio, TX, August 17-18, 2023. https://sites.google.com/view/tapsmeeting/home
, Aug-2023
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Abstracts for Journals and Proceedings
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Lynch KL, Simpson AC, Loureiro RR, Johnson T, Kovtun RN, Lopez JM, Malo KE, Rampe E, Rey K, Santiago-Vazquez L, Thorpe MT, Williams A, Jackson WA. "Perchlorate bioremediation for Martian regolith-based agriculture using natural microbial consortia from Mars analog sites on Earth." 39th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research, Washington, DC, November 13-18, 2023. Abstracts. 39th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research, Washington, DC, November 13-18, 2023. , Nov-2023
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