Adding a small amount of water caused the moss to spring back to life “within seconds” and resume photosynthesis, turning carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbohydrates essential for human survival on any planet, the researchers wrote.
“It represents a promising candidate as a colonist to facilitate terraforming on Mars … and to help foster the atmospheric, geological, and ecological processes required for plants and other higher animals.”
The findings caught the attention of astrobiologist Lin Wei from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics in Beijing, who described them as “very interesting and valuable”.
“With a series of scientific experiments, the team showed this Syntrichia caninervis could survive for a week in a simulated Martian environment,” said Lin, who was not involved in the study.
The paper’s lead author, Li Xiaoshuang, a cell biologist from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, told the South China Morning Post that she had been studying the “magical” plant for two decades.
Desert moss was known for its exceptional resistance to drought and radiation, she said. “Most plants would die if they lost 30 percent of their cell water. It survives complete dehydration.”
Li and her team spent a long time looking for drought-resistance genes in moss, which they hoped would help other plants grow better in really dry environments—until they accidentally discovered that it too it blooms under the ice in winter.
“I got really curious and started putting it in freezers and then in tanks of liquid nitrogen,” Li said. “It really stood out as the only plant that has demonstrated such remarkable resistance to various environmental stressors.”
The research found that moss could regenerate under normal growth conditions after spending five years at -80 degrees Celsius (-112 Fahrenheit) and 30 days at -196 Celsius (-320.8 Fahrenheit).
Eventually, the researchers took some moss samples into a simulation booth at the National Space Science Center in Beijing to test their ability to withstand Mars-like conditions.
The simulator was preset to an air composition of 95 percent carbon dioxide, temperature range between -60 and 20 Celsius (-76 and 68 Fahrenheit) and radiation levels similar to those found on the surface of Mars.
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Chinese rover Zhu Rong discovers evidence of an ancient sea on Mars
Chinese rover Zhu Rong discovers evidence of an ancient sea on Mars
Li and her team found that dried moss plants fully recovered within 30 days after exposure to Martian conditions for one, two, three and seven days. Hydrated plants exposed to the simulator for a day also survived, but regenerated more slowly.
According to Li, the team has already planted the moss in a replica of the soil found on Mars. “He grew very well and all he needed was water,” she said.
Next, Li and her team will look for opportunities to send moss samples to outer space for exposure experiments, or even to the surface of the Moon or Mars.
Mosses were the first embryophytes to leave the ocean and colonize land in Earth’s history. We are curious to see if colonization can happen again on Mars,” she said.