What an astronaut’s gut microbiome must feel in space: Simulated microgravity and ionizing radiation changing Escherichia coli’s growth dynamics.
Abstract
With space travel becoming more prominent, research in microgravity conditions has been of increasing interest among many scientists. It is important that as we continue to develop a means of survivability outside of Earth’s atmosphere, we must explore every aspect of physiological health in astronauts. One important factor that is being researched is how microorganisms, such as bacteria, can influence an astronaut's immune system under microgravity conditions. Studies have shown that when astronauts travel to space, their gut microbiota changes drastically than when they are on Earth. This difference in response may be due to a specific bacteria having experienced a mutation or a metabolic change when exposed to microgravity conditions and heightened background radiation. The objective of this experiment is to understand the effects of microgravity and low-dose ionizing radiation on Escherichia coli over multiple generations, equivalent to an estimated 4 weeks stay at the space station. For this purpose, we grew our biological model on a microgravity analog while exposed to a chronic dose of gamma irradiation from a Cs-137 low activity source, for 30 days. At the end of the experiment we measured differences in their growth dynamics and their ability to form biofilms. Preliminary data shows that the interaction between microgravity and radiation enhanced the growth of bacteria and selected for cells with a higher affinity to form biofilms. Our next experiments will explore the effect of our treatment on the differential expression of genes related to quorum sensing and sensitivity to oxidative and acidic stresses.
What an astronaut’s gut microbiome must feel in space: Simulated microgravity and ionizing radiation changing Escherichia coli’s growth dynamics.
With space travel becoming more prominent, research in microgravity conditions has been of increasing interest among many scientists. It is important that as we continue to develop a means of survivability outside of Earth’s atmosphere, we must explore every aspect of physiological health in astronauts. One important factor that is being researched is how microorganisms, such as bacteria, can influence an astronaut's immune system under microgravity conditions. Studies have shown that when astronauts travel to space, their gut microbiota changes drastically than when they are on Earth. This difference in response may be due to a specific bacteria having experienced a mutation or a metabolic change when exposed to microgravity conditions and heightened background radiation. The objective of this experiment is to understand the effects of microgravity and low-dose ionizing radiation on Escherichia coli over multiple generations, equivalent to an estimated 4 weeks stay at the space station. For this purpose, we grew our biological model on a microgravity analog while exposed to a chronic dose of gamma irradiation from a Cs-137 low activity source, for 30 days. At the end of the experiment we measured differences in their growth dynamics and their ability to form biofilms. Preliminary data shows that the interaction between microgravity and radiation enhanced the growth of bacteria and selected for cells with a higher affinity to form biofilms. Our next experiments will explore the effect of our treatment on the differential expression of genes related to quorum sensing and sensitivity to oxidative and acidic stresses.