Project Coordinator :  Prof.Dr.Orhan İnce (Istanbul Technical University)

Investigators:
Prof.Dr.Bahar İnce (Bogazici University)
Assoc.Prof.Dr. Emine Gözde Özbayram (Istanbul University)
Dr.İlker Karacan (Medeniyet University)
Kübra Doymuş (Istanbul Technical University)
İbrahim Cem Özsefil (Bogazici University)
Ömer Uzun  (Bogazici University)

The Jezero Crater, selected as the landing site for the Perseverance rover as part of NASA's latest Mars 2020 mission, is the only known location on Mars that has provided significant evidence of the existence of an ancient lake, due to its geological and mineralogical characteristics. The hydromagnesite formations observed in Jezero Crater have only been found in a few lake environments on Earth, and among these, Lake Salda in Turkey is the only lake that is considered an analog to the ancient lake environment of Jezero Crater, both mineralogically and geologically, with ongoing hydromagnesite formation. In the unique ecosystem of Lake Salda, microbial activities result in the formation of microbialites containing hydromagnesite, which are the oldest known fossil records on Earth, preserving the geochemical, environmental, and biological characteristics of the environment in which they formed. While microbialites are known to be structures produced, induced, or influenced by benthic microorganisms, the precise role of microorganisms in the formation of these structures, as well as the biological and abiotic processes involved, have not yet been fully elucidated. Therefore, the comprehensive determination of microbial composition is critical to understanding the conditions and mechanisms of microbialite formation, as well as the microbe-mineral interactions that play a role in the creation of these structures. The primary objective of the proposed study is the complete characterization of the microbial ecology of Lake Salda and the deciphering of fossil records. The HiFi (High Fidelity) long-read DNA sequencing technology we will use in the project enables high-accuracy readings that cover all variable regions of the 16S rRNA gene, allowing for the precise phylogenetic characterization of the microorganisms discovered through high-accuracy data. The findings obtained from this study will provide valuable data not only in understanding the origins and evolution of life on Earth but also in assessing the potential of Jezero Crater on Mars to harbor traces of ancient life.

         

      
                                   Salda Lake (2020) Jezero Crater(2017)[NASA]