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MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS OF METHANOGENS IN A MARS SOIL SIMULANT.  J.A. Lewter¹, A.L. Szalanski¹, T.A. Kral^{2  1}Entomology Department, and ²Biology Department, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

   Methanogens are a hardy group of methane-producing microorganisms found in places ranging from the ocean floor to the intestines of termites. They are known to live in extreme frigid and anaerobic environments on Earth that are comparable to conditions on Mars. While some experiments are being conducted by growing methanogen cultures in a closely simulated Martian environment, a molecular diagnostic protocol has been developed using PCR which could determine if methanogens are present in a soil sample from Mars. The protocol stringency may be modified to detect if a wide range of methanogens are present in the soil, or it can be modified to determine if a particular methanogen species is present. An advantage of using molecular diagnostics for a Mars soil return mission is that the organism(s), if present, do not need to be alive in order to be identified.