Results and prospects of microbiological studies in outer space

Details Results and prospects of microbiological studies in outer space Results and prospects of microbiological studies in outer space

Jan 1973

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1973slsci...4..160p&link_type=abstract

Space Life Sciences, Volume 4, Issue 1, pp.160-179

Biology

Quantitative Biology

Subcellular Processes

1

Scientific paper

The domestic and foreign literature on microbiological studies in outer space from 1935 through 1970 is reviewed, with separate references to results obtained with balloons, high-altitude rockets and artificial earth satellites. The results of most experiments warrant the conclusion that spaceflight factors do not interfere with growth, development, cellular and nuclear division or mutagenesis in microorganisms, nor exert a modifying action on the radiation effect. In those cases when effects are observed they are as a rule attributed not to spaceflight factors but to differences in the maintenance conditions of the control and flight series of microorganisms in the period from their shipping from the laboratory till their return for study. One exception are the experiments carried out on twelve spacecraft by Zhukov-Verezhnikov and his co-workers in the U.S.S.R. and the experiment performed on Bios 2 by Mattoni in the U.S.A. These studies show that spaceflight factors appear to affect the subcellular processes in the lysogenic bacteriaE. coli andSalmonella typhimurium. The evidence obtained by Soviet investigators indicates that bacteria exhibit increased phage production. Mattoni's experiments show that spaceflight factors reduce or repress the phage production of lysogenic bacteria even under in-flight exposure to γ rays in doses of 265, 645 and 1640 rad. Both those two groups of results are statistically significant and appear to be true to fact. However, it is difficult as yet to give preference to any of them and to explain the differences observed. From a theoretical view-point, of greatest interest is the study of the mechanism leading to impairment of subcellular processes in bacteria (be it induction or repression) reproduced in weightlessness. It is concluded that it is desirable that microbiological studies in outer space should employ only those microorganisms that have received a detailed study in physiological, cytological, biochemical and genetic aspects. Three problem areas are formulated to be concentrated on by space microbiology: (1) Study of bacterial growth in weightlessness; (2) Study of chromosome-episome interaction in bacteria during development in weightlessness; and (3) Elucidation of the selective role of weightlessness in populations of microorganisms. The authors believe that in general the so-called problem of the ‘effects of spaceflight factors on microorganisms’ no longer exists at the present time. For that reason, experiments with microorganisms in outer space should have a specific, clearly formulated objective.

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