In: Biology
what might you look for as a signature of life on the red planet (mars)? What might you look for in the microenviornment? (this is a microbiology question and we have been looking at different metabolic approaches of microorganisms, their niches. please help explain the answer to this question!)
A signature of life on the red planet is water which is essentially required for all terristial animals. If the trace of water is found then the sign of life may exist. So the first priority for finding life in Mars is to search of water resourse.
In the microenvironment of mars atmosphere, prokaryotes like certain bacteria , microorganisms may look for the signature of life. For the microbial growth the essential nutrients , elements are very essential. A dense CO2 atmosphere was found in mars . The metabolism of microorganism can be classified for utilising the different carbon source --
a. Autotrophic: carbon is obtained from carbon dioxide
b. Heterotrophic : carbon from organic compound
c. Mixotrophic : carbon is obtained from organic compound and fixation of carbon dioxide.
There are several mission for searching of microorganism in mars environment that may show the existance of life with some rays of hope.