Microbes Unknown to Science Discovered on The International Space Station:
Researchers from the United States and India working with NASA have now discovered four strains of bacteria living in different places in the ISS – three of which were, until now, completely unknown to science.
Three of the four strains were isolated back in 2015 and 2016 – one was found on an overhead panel of the ISS research stations, the second was found in the Cupola, the third was found on the surface of the dining table; the fourth was found in an old HEPA filter returned to Earth in 2011.
All four of the strains belong to a family of bacteria found in soil and freshwater; they are involved in nitrogen fixation, plant growth, and can help stop plant pathogens. Basically, good bacteria to have around if you're growing things.
[...] One of the strains – the HEPA-filter find – was identified as a known species called Methylorubrum rhodesianum. The other three were sequenced and found to all belong to the same, previously unidentified species, and the strains were named IF7SW-B2T, IIF1SW-B5, and IIF4SW-B5.
[...] "The whole genome sequence assembly of these three ISS strains reported here will enable the comparative genomic characterization of ISS isolates with Earth counterparts in future studies," the team writes in their study.
"This will further aid in the identification of genetic determinants that might potentially be responsible for promoting plant growth under microgravity conditions and contribute to the development of self-sustainable plant crops for long-term space missions in future."
The researchers found that one of the ISS strains - IF7SW-B2T - had promising genes involved in plant growth, including a gene for an enzyme essential for cytokinin, which promotes cell division in roots and shoots.
Journal Reference:
Swati Bijlani, Nitin K. Singh, V. V. Ramprasad Eedara , et al. Methylobacterium ajmalii sp. nov., Isolated From the International Space Station, Frontiers in Microbiology (DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.639396)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by FatPhil on Friday March 19 2021, @08:40AM (3 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday March 19 2021, @04:00PM (2 children)
Well, you've got the valid point that the term "species" when applied to a non-sexually reproducing organism is rather undefined. And these are reported to be related to normal soil bacteria. And certainly most bacteria haven't had their genomes characterized.
All that accepted, this may be interesting. Did they evolve interesting ways to handle null-G? (Or perhaps that doesn't even matter to bacteria, though I'd think the absence of convection currents would be significant.) So HOW are they different from their close relatives on Earth? (My first guess is that they have a stronger ability to eat artificial lubricants.)
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 19 2021, @05:49PM
I remember when they opened that overhead panel and found a ball of what was effectively swamp water just floating in a compartment. Lack of convection was blamed for why that area built up so much humidity.
(Score: 1) by kvutza on Friday March 19 2021, @09:03PM
They are probably the same as some bacteria on Earth. We really know just a tiny fraction of them, and these are astronauts alike their human mates.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 19 2021, @01:22PM (4 children)
I think it's a good idea to nuke the ISS just in case.
(Score: 2) by iWantToKeepAnon on Friday March 19 2021, @02:33PM
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
(Score: 3, Touché) by DannyB on Friday March 19 2021, @03:41PM (2 children)
Won't re-entry do the trick sooner or later-er?
The ISS has a limited lifetime.
The server will be down for replacement of vacuum tubes, belts, worn parts and lubrication of gears and bearings.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 19 2021, @04:25PM (1 child)
Ok, I really just want to see some dudes run through this hail of poison darts I set up.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday March 19 2021, @05:18PM
I read it in college. Watched the movie in college and several times since. A pretty good story for the time it was made.
One thing that doesn't make so much sense is having a nuclear weapon in the facility to sterilize it. It seems that you could do two things. First expose the entire interior to a lethal dose of radiation, but no explosion or fallout. Second, burn it all. Something high temperature but non nuclear. Maybe thermite. It seems there are probably sterilization options less radical than a nuke.
The server will be down for replacement of vacuum tubes, belts, worn parts and lubrication of gears and bearings.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 19 2021, @03:15PM
In the orbit. Nuke it in the orbit.
It's our only hope.