RAPID: DEBI-t: development of a Deep Exploration Biosphere Investigative Tool

了解地下生物圈中深层生命的分布是提高我们对地球上生命和生态系统进化理解的一个重大挑战。迄今为止，所有用于探测深层生物圈微生物生命的方法都涉及对钻孔中回收的物质进行非原位分析。通过提取细胞或细胞成分，或将染料应用于样品并进行细胞计数，对材料进行微生物生物量分析。后一种方法是最标准的行业，并代表了一个非常时间和劳动密集型的动手荧光细胞在显微镜下的眼睛计数。目前的方法是非常费力和低效的过程，涉及细胞损失和可能对微生物生态产生影响的矿物学背景信息的损失。为了应对在自然基质中检测和量化微生物生命的挑战，PI要求RAPID资助开发一种新型的原位井下测井工具，用于检测海底钻孔中的微生物生命。“深紫外”（DUV）是一种光学方法，可以对自然和不透明表面上的单个细菌细胞进行检测和成像，包括在厘米到微米的空间尺度上评估细菌密度和单个细胞到生物膜的分布。DUV诱导和检测细胞或孢子固有有机成分的天然荧光（DUV），同时避免底物的自身荧光干扰，从而能够在几十厘米到微米的空间尺度上检测细菌-即微生物群落和单细胞。更广泛的影响本项目从外部资源中获得35万美元。预计该技术可以广泛应用于任何可能出现的地下远程生命的探测和测绘工具，成为适用于以整个深海为代表的远端环境的“卫星成像仪”。在微生物生理学和荧光光谱方面具有专长的JPL/Caltech博士后将得到支持。

Understanding the distribution of deep life in the subsurface biosphere is a major challenge to advancing our understanding of the evolution life and ecosystems on Earth. To date, all methods developed to detect microbial life in the deep biosphere involve ex-situ analysis of recovered materials from boreholes. Materials are analyzed for microbial biomass by extracting cells or cellular components, or by application of dyes to samples and performing cell counts. This latter methodology being the most standard in the industry, and represents a very time and labor intensive hands-on by eye counting of fluorescent cells under a microscope. Current methods are highly laborious and inefficient processes that involve both cell loss and the loss of information about the mineralogical context that may have influence on the microbial ecology.To meet the challenges associated with detecting and quantifying microbial life within a natural matrix, The PI requests RAPID funding to develop a novel in-situ downhole logging tool for detecting microbial life in subseafloor boreholes. "Deep UV" (DUV) is an optical method that enables detection and imaging of single bacterial cells on natural and opaque surfaces, including assessment of bacterial density and distribution of single cells to biofilms over spatial scales ranging from centimeters to microns. DUV induces and detects native fluorescence (DUV) of organic components intrinsic to the cell or spore while avoiding autofluorescence interference from the substrate, enabling detection of bacteria at spatial scales ranging from tens of centimeters to micrometers - i.e., both communities of microbes and single cells.Broader Impacts This project Leverages $350K from outside sources. It is anticipated that this technology could become widely used as a tool for detection and mapping of subsurface remote life everywhere it may occur, becoming the "satellite imager" applicable to distal environments such as represented by the entire deep sea. A JPL/Caltech post-doc with expertise in microbial physiology and fluorescence spectroscopy will be supported.