EFFECTS OF EMBEDDING HALOBACTERIUM SP. NRC-1 IN SALT CRYSTALS AND POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR LONG TERM PRESERVATION

摘要

The isolation of several haloarchaea from Permo-Triassic rock salt (about 250 million years old) and the discovery of extraterrestrial halite in meteorites from Mars and other celestial bodies suggested an exploration of the possibility of survival of haloarchaea in salt crystals under laboratory conditions. Cells of Halo-bacterium sp. NRC-1 were suspended in various buffers of high ionic strength (4 M NaCl) and were incubated 37°C until crystals formed. Survival of cells was measured as colony forming units (cfu) and also by staining with the LIVE-DEAD kit. According to these studies, about 1-4% of haloarchaea were viable following embedding in crystals. Almost all cells had changed from rods to roundish shapes. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed several differences in protein patterns of untreated cells and re-suspended cells following crystallization.