What plants do scientists think could be used to terraform Mars?
Among the planets in the solar system, Mars has an environment relatively similar to that of Earth, and there is hope that it will be
The extremotolerant desert moss Syntrichia caninervis is a promising pioneer plant for colonizing extraterrestrial environments: The Innovation
https://www.cell.com/the-innovation/fulltext/S2666-6758(24)00095-X
This Plant Is So Extreme Scientists Think It Could Thrive on Mars : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-plant-is-so-extreme-scientists-think-it-could-thrive-on-mars
In ancient times, when land was an inhospitable environment for most living things, moss was one of the first plants to move onto land. Moss has the ability to absorb nutrients that seep out of rocks or flow over rocks, and was able to survive in harsh environments where other living things could not live, ultimately creating soil in which other living things could live.
Modern mosses also have the genes to survive in harsh environments, leading some scientists to believe they could be used to terraform planets like Mars, laying the foundations for other plants and animals to live on.
As a candidate for moss suitable for terraforming Mars, the research team focused on
For example, the Gurbantungüt Desert, which occupies the northern part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, has a very dry climate with extreme temperature variations of -45 to 65 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity of as low as 1.4%. Despite this, the Gurbantungüt Desert is home to a higher density of Syntrichia caninellidis than anywhere else.
The research team conducted experiments in which they exposed Syntrichia caninelwis to extreme environments to see how it responded and recovered.
First, in an experiment in which Syntrichia caninerwis was exposed to wind and dried extremely, the green Syntrichia caninerwis turned black as it lost water. However, even after losing more than 99% of its water, the water content was instantly restored and it returned to green when water was added. In addition, the ability to photosynthesize decreased with drying, but this was restored when water was added.
Furthermore, in experiments to see whether they could survive long-term frozen conditions, they actually used an ultra-low temperature freezer to keep them frozen at -80 degrees for 3 to 5 years, and in a liquid nitrogen tank to keep them frozen at -196 degrees for 15 to 30 days.
Syntrichia caninellus survived these low temperature treatments and began to recover within 5 to 15 days when returned to normal growing conditions.
In addition, in experiments in which Syntrichia caninerwis was irradiated with gamma rays, high doses of gamma rays of 500 to 16,000 Gy (gray) were irradiated. It is said that if a human absorbs 1.5 Gy of radiation, there is a possibility of death.
In this experiment, Syntrichia caninerwis was able to withstand up to 4,000 Gy, far exceeding the lethal dose for humans.
Furthermore, Syntrichia caninerwis was able to survive when exposed to conditions similar to those found at mid-latitudes on Mars, including changes in air pressure, carbon dioxide concentration, and temperature.
The research team said, 'We still have a long way to go before we can create self-sufficient habitats on extraterrestrial planets. However, we have demonstrated the great potential of Syntrichia caninelluis as a pioneer plant growing on Mars. We hope that in the future we can bring this promising moss to Mars or the Moon to further test the possibility of plant colonization and growth in space.'
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