Ribonucleoprotein (RNP) condensates modulate survival in response to Mars-like stress conditions

Scientific advances have emboldened human efforts toward exploring the potential of extinct, extant, or future life on Mars. An important aspect of this endeavor is understanding how an organism adapts to stress-inducing environmental conditions on Mars such as radiations, shock waves, extreme temperatures, and chaotropic stress due to higher levels of perchlorates. A conserved approach organisms use across evolutionary scales to adapt and overcome stress conditions is the assembly of ribonucleoprotein (RNP) condensates. In this study, we employ a multidisciplinary approach to understand yeast survivability and adaptation under Mars-like stress conditions specifically shock waves and perchlorate by focusing on RNP condensates. Our study reveals that yeast survives 5.6 M intensity shock waves. Exposure to either shock waves or sodium perchlorate induces the formation of P-bodies, a conserved stress-induced condensate. Yeast mutants defective in P-body assembly show defective growth in response to perchlorate stress. Transcriptome analysis followed by validation identified several relevant transcripts whose levels are perturbed in response to Mars-like conditions. Finally, identification of several transcripts whose abundance is altered in the P-body assembly mutant upon stress highlights new connection between response to Martian stress conditions and RNP condensates. This study, a first of its kind, highlights the importance of RNP condensates in understanding the impact of Martian conditions on life in general. This study paves the way for using RNP condensates as a biomarker for assessing the health of life forms during space explorations. RNA-seq profilling in wild-type and edc3∆lsm4∆C mutant cells of S.cerevisiae in response to sodium perchlorate and in wildtype cells recovering from exposure to 5.6 Mach intensity shock wave. RNA seq experiments were carried out for untreated cells, sodium perchlorate treated and shocked cells. Two replicates were used for each sample. Validation of RNA seq results using Real time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) indicated that the results obtained by RNA sequencing were reproducible and the extent of changes were comparable.