Is this project an undergraduate, graduate, or faculty project?
Undergraduate
Project Type
group
Campus
Daytona Beach
Authors' Class Standing
Riley Dienna, Freshman Logan Petty, Freshman
Lead Presenter's Name
Logan Petty
Lead Presenter's College
DB College of Arts and Sciences
Faculty Mentor Name
Alba A. Chavez
Abstract
This report was designed to compare spaceflight-induced cellular and physiological adaptations of two human yeast commensals, Candida parapsilosis and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa isolated from the International Space Station. These two yeast strains are common opportunistic pathogens responsible for a variety of superficial infections as well as systemic and more severe infections in immunocompromised individuals. The risk of opportunistic infections can be assessed by testing antifungal susceptibility as a virulence-related phenotype. In this study, antifungal susceptibility was tested using a broth dilution method which included different concentrations of the common antifungals Fluconazole, Amphotericin B, and Caspofungin in strains from the ISS and compared to earth isolates from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) library. Preliminary results indicate that, in general, both yeast isolates from the ISS demonstrated increased resistance to all antifungals tested when compared to earth isolates. This study provides insight into deciphering the microbial responses to spaceflight conditions and their potential role in causing antimicrobial-resistant infections.
Did this research project receive funding support (Spark, SURF, Research Abroad, Student Internal Grants, Collaborative, Climbing, or Ignite Grants) from the Office of Undergraduate Research?
No
Antifungal resistance patterns of two human yeast strains isolated from the International Space Station (ISS).
This report was designed to compare spaceflight-induced cellular and physiological adaptations of two human yeast commensals, Candida parapsilosis and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa isolated from the International Space Station. These two yeast strains are common opportunistic pathogens responsible for a variety of superficial infections as well as systemic and more severe infections in immunocompromised individuals. The risk of opportunistic infections can be assessed by testing antifungal susceptibility as a virulence-related phenotype. In this study, antifungal susceptibility was tested using a broth dilution method which included different concentrations of the common antifungals Fluconazole, Amphotericin B, and Caspofungin in strains from the ISS and compared to earth isolates from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) library. Preliminary results indicate that, in general, both yeast isolates from the ISS demonstrated increased resistance to all antifungals tested when compared to earth isolates. This study provides insight into deciphering the microbial responses to spaceflight conditions and their potential role in causing antimicrobial-resistant infections.