- The bacteria were collected as part of a survey program that requires astronauts to routinely collect samples from eight sites aboard the International Space Station.
- The bacteria found on the space station belong to a family of bacteria that help plants grow and prevent pathogens.
- Finding sustainable ways to grow food is critical to a long-term space mission.
Three previously unknown strains of bacteria have been found growing in the International Space Station, according to a recent genetic study. This discovery could help scientists find better ways to grow food on Mars.
The analysis, published in the journal Boundaries in microbiology, describing how astronauts collected four layers of bacteria inside the space station in 2011, 2015 and 2016. It was part of an ongoing study program that activates astronauts by keeping look at eight sites of the space station for bacterial growth.
Astronauts have already sent hundreds of samples back to Earth for analysis, and thousands more are planning to send them back on return missions.
The newly discovered rays belong to a family of bacteria called Methylobacteriaceae, commonly found in soil and freshwater. These bacteria help plants grow, repair nitrogen and stop pathogens.
International Space Station
NASA
So how did these novel microbes get in the space station? They appear to have come from the plant growth experiments that astronomers have been conducting for years aboard the ISS, such as the Advanced Plant Environment, an automated growing room that grows plants in space so that scientists study them back on Earth.
The new series could be beneficial to space farming. After all, it is already clear that the bacteria can survive the position of the space station, and the researchers wrote that the rays that astronomers may have may have “useful biotechnological genetic determinants”. help grow food on long-term missions, or on other planets.
“To grow plants in real places where there are few resources, it is necessary the isolation of novel microbes that help to stimulate plant growth under stressful conditions,” study authors Kasthuri Venkateswaran and Nitin K. Singh said in a press release. .
“Needless to say, the ISS is an extremely clean environment. Crew safety is number 1 priority and so understanding human / plant pathogens is important, but beneficial microbes like this novel Methylobacterium ajmalii are needed.”
To accelerate their understanding of how bacteria behave in space, Singh and Venkateswaran proposed the development of custom equipment that astronomers could use to study bacteria on the space station.
“Instead of taking samples back to Earth for analysis, we need a unified microbial monitoring system that collects, processes and analyzes samples in space using molecular technologies,” they said. “This little ‘omics in space’ technology – a biosensor development – will help NASA and other space countries to achieve long-term safe and sustainable space exploration.”
Genome-based phylogenetic tree showing its phylogenetic relationship Methylobacterium ajmalii sp. nov. with family members Methylobacteriaceae.
Bijlani et al.
NASA hopes to send humans to Mars by the 2030s, while private companies like SpaceX aim to reach the red planet this decade. For any Mars mission, developing sustainable ways to grow food is critical. This is mainly because it is inconvenient for astronauts to pack the food they need for the journey, which will take approximately 14 months, without taking into account time spent. on the planet.
Astronauts also need to stay healthy. The main problem with prepackaged food, in addition to its weight, is that the nutrients break down over time. That’s why NASA has been experimenting with growing different types of nutritious plants through projects like Veggie and the latest Advanced Plant Environment. These projects help scientists learn about the complexity of plants growing in microgravity, and how plants could grow on Mars.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 64 Flight Engineer Kate Rubins is studying growing radish plants for the Habitat-02 Plant test.
NASA
But growing plants in space is not about nutrition. NASA notes that plants are psychologically beneficial to humans, both on Earth and in space. These psychological benefits could be especially important for astronauts on long-range missions millions of miles away from Earth.
Astronaut Peggy Whitson, working aboard the International Space Station, described seeing plants in space for the first time for the first time:
“I was amazed at how good 6 soybean plants looked,” she told Space Daily. “I believe seeing something green for the first time in a month and a half was having a real impact. From a psychological point of view, I think it’s interesting that the reaction was as amazing as it was. […] I believe if we go to Mars, we need a garden! “
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