Our visiting PhD student Alef dos Santos received the “ISE Poster Award 2022” during the 13th International Congress on Extremophiles of the International Society of Extremophiles, that took place in Loutraki, Greece.

Alef's research is entitled "Differentiation of metabolites in black yeast grown on a global Mars simulator using mass spectrometry and molecular lattice approach" and evaluated the interaction of black extromophilic fungi with minerals present in Martian soil. To the best of our knowledge, his research is the first study aiming to understand, in molecular aspects, how black yeasts can adapt to the geochemical conditions of Mars.

Now, the next steps are focused on identifying the molecules produced by microorganisms and evaluating their role as a signature of biological processes.