Chinese researchers identify extreme moss as promising candidate for Mars colonization | Science News

The extreme desert moss Syntrichia caninervis can tolerate harsh conditions that are fatal to most life forms.

Syntrichia caninervis, also known as Sheri Hagwood. (Image credit: USDA-NRCS).

New Delhi: Chinese researchers have identified an extremely resilient desert moss Syntrichia caninervisas a promising candidate for Mars colonization. In other words, if the moss were transported to Mars, it could survive, and perhaps even thrive. Moss was known to tolerate dry conditions, but new research indicates that it can also survive freezing temperatures, as low as −196 °C, as well as exposure to high levels of gamma radiation. In simulated Martian environments, the moss was able to survive extreme dehydration, cold, and gamma radiation all at the same time.

Mars was wet in the past. (Image credit: NASA/MAVEN/Lunar and Planetary Institute).

Previous studies have examined the ability of microorganisms, algae, lichens and plant spores to withstand the extreme environments of Mars or space, but this is the first study to examine the impact on entire plants. Syntrichia caninervis is a common moss species, widely distributed throughout the world, found in extreme environments, including Tibet and Antarctica. Researchers tested the limits of the moss' resistance in laboratory environments and found that it could survive temperatures of −80 °C for five years and −196 °C for one month. In all experiments, specimens regenerated and recovered after thawing.

Stress test foam

The moss also demonstrated the ability to survive gamma radiation that would kill most plants. After subjecting the moss to stress tests, the researchers also studied it under simulated Mars-like conditions at the Center for Planetary Atmosphere Simulation at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The moss could survive a carbon dioxide-laden atmosphere, temperature fluctuations from −60°C to 20°C, and exposure to high levels of ultraviolet radiation. The moss would regenerate more quickly if it had been previously dehydrated.

An article describing the results was published in InnovationIn the paper, the researchers write: “Plants such as mosses offer key advantages for terraforming, including stress tolerance, high photoautotrophic growth capacity, and the potential to produce substantial amounts of biomass under harsh conditions.”