HR: 11:50h
AN: C12C-07    [Abstracts]
TI: Development and Deployment of a Probe for Remotely Sensing Microbial Life at Lake Vida, Antarctica
AU: * Bramall, N
EM: bramall@socrates.berkeley.edu
AF: U.C. Berkeley Physics Department, 366 LeConte Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720 United States
AU: Bay, R
EM: bay@cletus.physics.berkeley.edu
AF: U.C. Berkeley Physics Department, 366 LeConte Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720 United States
AU: Price, B
EM: bprice@berkeley.edu
AF: U.C. Berkeley Physics Department, 366 LeConte Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720 United States
AB: Fluorescence spectroscopy is a powerful and highly sensitive tool useful for remotely searching for sub-surface microbial life. Ubiquitous biomolecules in microorganisms (e.g. tryptophan and NADH) have unique autofluorescence spectra that allow them to be optically detected at low levels even in the presence of a mineral-based fluorescence background. Other autofluorescing compounds can allow for broad typing of cells, such as F420 and chlorophyll. Based on this technique, we have developed and tested two miniaturized Biospectral Loggers (mini-BSLs)-- instruments suitable for logging small boreholes and aquatic environments that use a bank of seven notch-filtered phototubes and either a 224 nm or 405 nm laser excitation source to record the spectrum of microbial tryptophan or F420/chlorophyll fluorescence (respectively). The mini-BSL was tested in the perennial ice covering Lake Vida, Antarctica, demonstrating its suitability for off-world deployment in extreme environments such as Martian permafrost. Data and a discussion will be presented.
DE: 0406 Astrobiology and extraterrestrial materials
DE: 0410 Biodiversity
DE: 0424 Biosignatures and proxies
DE: 0480 Remote sensing
DE: 0716 Cryobiology (0475)
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005