Tag: Mars

A thin atmosphere, freezing temperatures, and a barrage of radiation: the surface of Mars is hardly a prime holiday destination. But can any life survive there?

Known for their extreme tolerance to harsh environments such as Earth’s deserts and polar regions, lichens have long been considered a leading candidate for Martian survival. And, for the first time, researchers have demonstrated that certain species can survive Mars-like conditions, including exposure to ionising radiation, while maintaining a metabolically active state.

Published in the open-access journal IMA Fungus, a new study highlights the potential for lichens to survive and function on the Martian surface, challenging previous assumptions that the planet is uninhabitable.

Annotated design showing the set up of the experiment subjecting lichens to Mars-like conditions. — Experiment arrangement of vacuum chamber with the additional facility, including metal grate with lichens, cooling table, temperature, pressure and humidity sensors, X-ray lamp with the controller, CO₂ valve with cylinder, controllers of vacuum chamber, pressure, cooling table, and computer.

But what exactly are lichens? It’s a little complicated. In fact, lichens are not a single organism, but rather a symbiotic association between a fungus and algae and/or cyanobacteria.

In this study, the fungal partner in lichen symbiosis remained metabolically active when exposed to Mars-like atmospheric conditions in darkness, including X-ray radiation levels expected on Mars over one year of strong solar activity.

Macro photograph of a lichen species. — *Cetraria* *aculeata*.

The research focuses on two lichen species (yes, there are lichen species despite them being a symbiosis), Diploschistes muscorum and Cetraria aculeata, selected for their differing traits. The lichens were exposed to Mars-like conditions for five hours in a simulation of the planet’s atmospheric composition, pressure, temperature fluctuations, and X-ray radiation.

The findings suggest that lichens, particularly D. muscorum, could potentially survive on Mars despite the high doses of X-ray radiation associated with solar flares and energetic particles reaching the planet’s surface. These results challenge the assumption that ionising radiation is an insurmountable barrier to life on Mars and set the stage for further research on the potential for extraterrestrial microbial and symbiotic survival.

“Our study is the first to demonstrate that the metabolism of the fungal partner in lichen symbiosis remained active while being in an environment resembling the surface of Mars. We found that Diploschistes muscorum was able to carry out metabolic processes and activate defense mechanisms effectively.

“These findings expand our understanding of biological processes under simulated Martian conditions and reveal how hydrated organisms respond to ionizing radiation – one of the most critical challenges for survival and habitability on Mars. Ultimately, this research deepens our knowledge of lichen adaptation and their potential for colonizing extraterrestrial environments.”
Lead author of the paper, Kaja Skubała.

Further long-term studies investigating the impact of chronic radiation exposure on lichens have been recommended, as well as experiments assessing their survival in real Martian environments.

Researchers from Jagiellonian University and the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences conducted the study with support from the National Science Centre, Poland, and the “Excellence Initiative – Research University” at the Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University.

Original study

Skubała K, Chowaniec K, Kowaliński M, Mrozek T, Bąkała J, Latkowska E, Myśliwa-Kurdziel B (2025) Ionizing radiation resilience: how metabolically active lichens endure exposure to the simulated Mars atmosphere. IMA Fungus 16: e145477. https://doi.org/10.3897/imafungus.16.145477

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Future Martian explorers might not need to leave the Earth to prepare themselves for life on the Red Planet. The Mars Society have built an analogue research site in Utah, USA, which simulates the conditions on our neighbouring planet.

Practicing the methods needed to collect biological samples while wearing spacesuits, a team of Canadian scientists have studied the diverse local flora. Along with the lessons that one day will serve the first to conquer Mars, the researchers present an annotated checklist of the fungi, algae, cyanobacteria, lichens, and vascular plants from the station in their publication in the open-access journal Biodiversity Data Journal.

Located in the desert approximately 9 km outside of Hanksville, Utah, and about 10 km away from the Burpee Dinosaur Quarry, a recently described bone bed from the Jurassic Morrison Formation, the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) was constructed in 2002. Since then, it has been continuously visited by a wide range of researchers, including astrobiologists, soil scientists, journalists, engineers, and geologists.

Astrobiology, the study of the evolution and distribution of life throughout the universe, including the Earth, is a field increasingly represented at the MDRS. There, astrobiologists can take advantage of the extreme environment surrounding the station and seek life as if they were on Mars. To simulate the extraterrestrial conditions, the crew members even wear specially designed spacesuits so that they can practice standard field work activities with restricted vision and movement.

In their present research, the authors have identified and recorded 38 vascular plant species from 14 families, 13 lichen species from seven families, 6 algae taxa including both chlorophytes and cyanobacteria, and one fungal genus from the station and surrounding area. Living in such extreme environments, organisms such as fungi, lichens, algae, and cyanobacteria are of particular interest to astrobiologists as model systems in the search for life on Mars.

However, the authors note that there is still field work to be executed at the site, especially during the spring and the summer so that the complete local diversity of the area can be captured.

“While our present checklist is not an exhaustive inventory of the MDRS site,” they explain, “it can serve as a first-line reference for identifying vascular plants and lichens at the MDRS, and serves as a starting point for future floristic and ecological work at the station.”

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Original source:

Sokoloff P, Hamilton P, Saarela J (2016) The “Martian” flora: new collections of vascular plants, lichens, fungi, algae, and cyanobacteria from the Mars Desert Research Station, Utah.Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e8176. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.4.e8176

Tag: Mars

Life on Mars? Lichens survive Martian simulation

Remarkably diverse flora in Utah, USA, trains scientists for future missions on Mars