Section of the EXPOSE-2 platform outdoors the International Space Station (ISS) simulating a Mars-like setting that was used for the experiments. Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
An worldwide analysis crew together with the University of Göttingen has investigated the possibilities of survival of kombucha cultures beneath Mars-like situations. Kombucha is named a drink, generally referred to as tea fungus or mushroom tea, which is produced by fermenting sugared tea utilizing kombucha cultures—a symbiotic tradition of micro organism and yeast. Although the simulated Martian setting destroyed the microbial ecology of the kombucha cultures, surprisingly, a cellulose-producing bacterial species survived. The outcomes had been revealed in Frontiers in Microbiology.
The scientists of the “Biology and Mars Experiment” (BIOMEX) undertaking had already despatched kombucha cultures to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2014 with the help of the European Space Agency. The purpose was to study extra in regards to the robustness of cellulose as a biomarker, the genomic structure of kombucha, and its survival habits beneath extraterrestrial situations. After one and a half years beneath simulated Martian situations outdoors the ISS, the samples had been reactivated on Earth and cultivated for one more two and a half years.
The head of the University of Göttingen’s Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Professor Bertram Brenig, was liable for the sequencing and bioinformatic evaluation of the metagenomes of the reactivated cultures and particular person kombucha cultures in a crew with researchers from the University of Minas Gerais in Brazil. “Based on our metagenomic evaluation, we discovered that the simulated Martian setting drastically disrupted the microbial ecology of kombucha cultures. However, we had been shocked to find that the cellulose-producing micro organism of the genus Komagataeibacter survived.”
Another platform (EXPOSE-R2) outdoors the International Space Station (ISS) for simulating a Mars-like setting that was used for the experiments. Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
The outcomes recommend that the cellulose produced by the micro organism might be liable for their survival in extraterrestrial situations. This additionally gives the primary proof that bacterial cellulose might be a biomarker for extraterrestrial life and cellulose-based membranes or movies might be an excellent biomaterial for shielding life and producing shopper items in extraterrestrial settlements.
Another fascinating side of those experiments might be the event of novel drug supply techniques (for instance, the event of drugs appropriate to be used in house). Another focus was on investigations into adjustments in antibiotic resistance: the analysis crew was capable of present that the full variety of antibiotic and steel resistance genes—that means that these microorganisms may survive regardless of antibiotics or metals within the setting—had been enriched within the uncovered cultures. “This consequence exhibits that the difficulties related to antibiotic resistance in medication in house must be given particular consideration sooner or later,” the scientists stated.
Space Kombucha within the seek for life and its origin
More info:
Daniel Santana de Carvalho et al, The Space-Exposed Kombucha Microbial Community Member Komagataeibacter oboediens Showed Only Minor Changes in Its Genome After Reactivation on Earth, Frontiers in Microbiology (2022). DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.782175
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Bacterial cellulose in kombucha permits microbial life beneath Mars-like situations (2022, June 6)
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