Three new bacterial strains discovered at the International Space Station could help plants grow on Mars
To cope with the rigors of space on deep space missions, food grown outside of Earth needs a little more help from bacteria. Now, in a recent discovery at the International Space Station (ISS), researchers could help create ‘fuel’ to help plants survive such stressful situations.
Publishing their findings on Frontiers in Microbiology, Working with researchers NASA The discovery and isolation of 4 species of bacteria belonging to the methylobacterial family from different locations in two consecutive flights on the ISS is described.
While 1 was known as stress Methyllobrum rodsianum, The other 3 were discovered earlier and are of the genre of the novel. Rod-shaped, dynamic bacteria were given IF7SW-B2T, IIF1SW-B5, and IIF4SW-B5 with genetic analysis to show that they are closely related. Methylobacterium indication.
Methylobacterium species are involved in nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, abiotic stress tolerance, plant growth, and biocontrol activity.
Potential for Mars missions
Now, in honor of renowned Indian biodiversity scientist Dr. Ajmal Khan, the team has proposed calling the novel species. Methylobacterium ajmali.
Commenting on the discovery, Dr. Kasthuri Venkateshwaran (Venkat) and Dr. Nitin Kumar Singh of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, (JPL), Says that the strain for crop growth in space may contain “biotechnologically useful genetic determinants”.
However, more experimental biology is needed to prove that space training is a potential game-changer.
To grow plants in extreme locations where resources are scarce, they said, isolating the microbes of the novel helps to promote plant growth in stressful situations.
Along with JPL, other researchers are collaborating in this discovery, located at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Cornell University and Hyderabad University of India.
One day with NASA thinks of taking humans to the surface Mars – and potentially out – The US National Research Council Decadle Survey recommends that the space agency use the ISS as a “testing bed for microbial surveys.”
“Our group specializes in the cultivation of microorganisms from extreme structures, so we have been entrusted with the responsibility of surveying the ISS for the presence and continuity of microorganisms through the NASA Space Biology Program,” he says.
Needless to say, ISS is a clean-maintained extreme environment. Crew safety is the No. 1 priority and therefore it is important to understand human / plant pathogens, but beneficial microbes like this novel Methylobacterium ajmali Also required. “
ISS is expanding the lab
As part of the ongoing surveillance mission, 8 locations on the ISS are being monitored for bacterial growth and have been ongoing for the past 6 years. Areas of this sample include the Plant Growth Chamber where crews are assembled or where experiments are performed.
Hundreds of bacterial samples from the ISS have been analyzed nowadays, while about 1000 samples have been collected from many other places on the space station, but are waiting to return to Earth where they can be tested.
According to Venkat and Singh, the ultimate goal is to bypass this lengthy process and find a new novel strain for the ISS using molecular biology tools developed and demonstrated.
“Instead of bringing samples back to Earth for analysis, we need an integrated microbial monitoring system that collects, processes and analyzes samples in space using molecular techniques,” Venkat and Singh said.
“The Omix in Space technology – G – Biosensor Development – will help NASA and other space-regions to explore safe and sustainable space in the long run.”
Reference: “Methylobacterium ajmali Sp. Swati Bijlani, Nitin K Singh, V.V. Ramprasad Idara, Appa Rao Podeli, Christopher E. Mason, Clay CC Wang and Kasturi Venkateshwaran, 15 March 2021, Frontiers in Microbiology.
DOI: 10.3389 / fmicb.2021.639396
