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Table 1 Overview on all sites and samples (additional information given in Additional file 2: Supplementary Table 1 and [1])

From: Taxonomic and functional analyses of intact microbial communities thriving in extreme, astrobiology-relevant, anoxic sites

Sampling sites: types and locations

Sample names

Relevant chemical and physical extreme characteristics (example analogue Martian site)

Sulfidic springs (Germany)

Sippenauer Moor

Sulfidic spring SM; sulfidic spring SM*

Anoxic, low in organics, sulfur-rich, low temperature (10°C, Noachian sulfur cycling at Meridian Planum and across Noachian Mars)

Islinger Mühlbach

Sulfidic spring IM; sulfidic spring IM*

Hypersaline environment (Boulby mine, UK)

Sampling site 1

Hypersaline environment

Anoxic, low in organics, hypersaline (Terra Sirenium; anoxic brine slopes)

Acidic lake (Lake Grænavatn, Iceland)

Sampling site 1

Acidic lake SS1; acidic lake SS1*

Anoxic, low in organics, basaltic environment (acidic lake), acidic (pH 2–3), (water-rock interactions at Jezero Crater; Meridiani Planum)

Sampling site 3

Acidic lake SS3; acidic lake SS3*

Acidic river (Rio Tinto, Spain)

Lago Peligroso

Acidic river LP; acidic river LP*

Galdierias

Acidic river Gal; acidic river Gal*

Permafrost setting (Herschel Island, Canada and Yedoma, Russia (SOB-14))

SlpD14-PS1-11

Permafrost SlpD14-1; permafrost SlpD14-1*

Low temperature (< 0°C, anoxic; Planum Boreum)

SlpD14-PS3-11

Permafrost SlpD14-3; permafrost SlpD14-3*

SOB-14-06-A-37

Permafrost SOB; permafrost SOB*

TSD-14-IW1-01

Permafrost TSD; permafrost TSD*

Additional samples (retrieved during Mars landing simulation campaign)

Kaunertaler Glacier (Austria)

Sampling site 1

Glacier SS1; glacier SS1*

Low temperature (< 0 °C, Planum Boreum)

Sampling site 2

Glacier SS2; glacier SS2*

  1. (*) in the sample abbreviations indicates pre-treatment of the samples with propidium monoazide (PMA). The sample “hypersaline environment” was not subjected to PMA treatment, as PMA treatment is inefficient in high-salt samples [7]. Samples used for shotgun metagenomics analyses are printed in bold