Faculty Mentor
Hugo Castillo
Abstract
With the popularity of space travel increasing, it is important to understand the effects of microgravity on microbial communities as alterations on bacterial interactions can occur. Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli are bacteria that are commonly found within human microbiomes. S. epidermidis is a cocci-shaped gram-positive bacterium that is part of the human skin microbiome. However, it can gather on sites of open skin and enter the body leading to an infection. E. coli is a rod-shaped gram-negative bacterium that can be found in the human gut microbiome. The pathogenic strains of E. coli have the potential to cause harmful conditions in humans such as urinary tract and skin infections. Therefore, it is important to study how S. epidermidis and E. coli influence each other while in a co-culture when exposed to simulated microgravity (SMG) because of the potential changes to the microbiomes of astronauts while in microgravity, which may have implications on astronaut health during long-duration spaceflight. The growth rates of E. coli and S. epidermidis when exposed to SMG as pure cultures and in the Co-culture were shown in this experiment through growth curves, along with the viable cell counts of each species post-exposure to SMG. The differential gene expression results of species-specific metabolism and biofilm-related genes showed E. coli target genes, luxS and gapA, and the S. epidermidis target gene, luxS, were significantly up-regulated post-exposure to SMG for 24 hrs in the Co-culture compared to gravity conditions.
Recommended Citation
Costa, Emma; Villafania, Mitchell K.; Olson, Makaila; Gammon, Kareigh N.; and Castillo, Hugo
(2025)
"Understanding the Effects of Simulated Microgravity on Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli in Co-culture,"
Beyond: Undergraduate Research Journal: Vol. 9
, Article 8.
Available at:
https://commons.erau.edu/beyond/vol9/iss1/8