Cryomyces antarcticus and Cryomyces minteri fungi species unaffected by Mars environment.
Q. Cryomyces antarcticus and Cryomyces minteri are species of- Published on 01 Feb 16a. Fungi
b. Orchid
c. Bacteria
d. Lotus
ANSWER: Fungi
A set of fungi from the Antarctic that was sent to the International Space Station (ISS) for research survived the simulated hostile Martian conditions. A team travelled to the remote McMurdo Dry Valleys in the Antarctic Victoria Land, which is the most similar earthly equivalent to Mars to collect samples of two species of cryptoendolithic fungi: Cryomyces antarcticus and Cryomyces minteri . These fungi were sent to the international orbiting laboratory and after exposing to conditions similar to those on Mars for 18 months on board, they found more than 60 percent of their cells remained intact with stable DNA.
Mountain species - Fungi, which can withstand extreme high-mountain environments, were also gathered from the Sierra de Gredos (Spain) and the Alps (Austria) and sent into space for the same experiment. These species showed double the metabolic activity of those that had been subjected to space conditions, even reaching 80 percent more in the case of the species Xanthoria elegans .
