NASA
astronauts of the future can have a new enemy to contend with: the bacteria space. The scientists found that Pseudomonas aeruginosa , a common contaminant of medical equipment and a cause of urinary tract infections, among other diseases, grows best in zero gravity than it does on Earth, although hungry for nutrients. The researchers grew microbes in simulated urine in both a laboratory linked to the Earth aboard the space shuttle Atlantis (experimental configuration shown) in July 2011. In some samples, the team has significantly reduced concentrations phosphate dissolved and oxygen to simulate conditions that might exist within the equipment used to recycle urine into water on spacecraft during long flights. When nutrients were abundant, bacteria in zero growth rates g conditions and, in particular, concentrations of cells after 72 hours were the same as those grown in the laboratory under conditions normal. But in samples with lower concentrations of phosphate and oxygen, bound Earth bacteria do not grow as fast as they did when fully fed, while those grown in microgravity grew as prolifically than those provided with a full complement of nutrients, the researchers report online today in BMC Microbiology . The reasons for the disparity are not clear, the researchers say, but the results suggest that bacteria introduced into the space stations and spacecraft by people, given enough time, could develop to reach higher concentrations that they are in similar conditions on Earth, even if deprived of nutrients. In addition to helping scientists better understand the risks of P. aeruginosa colonizing the equipment on spacecraft or causing diseases such as urinary tract infections in astronauts, experiments can improve ability of scientists to predict whether other species of bacteria could become more virulent in space.
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