New Bacteria Species Discovered on Space Station – May Have ‘Biotechnologically Useful Genetic Determinants’ For Growing Crops

Three new bacterial strains discovered on the International Space Station could help grow plants on Mars

In order to withstand the rigors of outer space on deep space missions, foods grown off Earth need a little extra help from bacteria. Now, a recent discovery aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has allowed researchers to create the “fuel” to help plants withstand such stressful situations.

Publish their results on Frontiers in microbiology, researchers working with NASA describes the discovery and isolation of 4 strains of bacteria belonging to the Methylobacteriaceae family at different locations on board the ISS during two consecutive flights.

While a strain has been identified as Methylorubrum rhodesianum, the other 3 were not discovered before and belong to a new species. The rod-shaped motile bacteria were given the designations IF7SW-B2T, IIF1SW-B5 and IIF4SW-B5 with genetic analysis showing that they were closely related to Methylobacterium indicum.

Methylobacterium species are involved in nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, abiotic stress tolerance, plant growth promotion and biological control activity against plant pathogens.

Potential for missions to Mars

Now, in honor of the famous Indian biodiversity scientist, Dr Ajmal Khan, the team has proposed to call the new species Methylobacterium ajmalii.

Commenting on this finding, Dr. Kasthuri Venkateswaran (Venkat) and Dr. Nitin Kumar Singh of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, (JPL), says the strains may possess “biotechnologically useful genetic determinants” for growing crops in space.

However, more experimental biology is needed to prove that she is, indeed, a potential game changer for space agriculture.

“To grow plants in extreme locations where resources are scarce, isolating new microbes that help promote plant growth under stressful conditions is essential,” they said.

Along with JPL, other researchers collaborating on this discovery are based at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Cornell University and University of Hyderabad in India.

With NASA one day looking to bring humans to the surface of March – and potentially beyond – the US National Research Council Decadal Survey recommends that the space agency use the ISS as a “test bed for the study of microorganisms,” according to Venkat and Singh.

“Since our group has expertise in cultivating microorganisms from extreme niches, we have been commissioned by NASA’s space biology program to study the ISS for the presence and persistence of microorganisms.” , they add.

“It goes without saying that the ISS is a neatly maintained extreme environment. Crew safety is number 1 priority and therefore understanding human / plant pathogens is important, but beneficial microbes like this novel Methylobacterium ajmalii are also needed. “

Extension of the ISS laboratory

As part of a continuous surveillance mission, 8 ISS sites have been monitored to detect bacterial proliferation for 6 years. These sampling areas include places where the team gathers or places where experiments are conducted, such as the plant growth chamber.

While hundreds of bacterial samples from the ISS have been analyzed to date, around 1,000 samples have been collected from various other locations on the space station but are awaiting return to Earth where they can be examined.

According to Venkat and Singh, the end goal is to bypass this long process and potentially find new strains using molecular biology equipment developed and demonstrated for the ISS.

“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 technologies,” said Venkat and Singh. .

“This miniaturized ‘space omics’ technology – a biosensor development – will help NASA and other space nations achieve safe and sustainable space exploration for long periods of time.”

Reference: “Methylobacterium ajmalii sp. nov., Isolated From the International Space Station ”by Swati Bijlani, Nitin K. Singh, VV Ramprasad Eedara, Appa Rao Podile, Christopher E. Mason, Clay CC Wang and Kasthuri Venkateswaran, March 15, 2021, Frontiers in microbiology.
DOI: 10.3389 / fmicb.2021.639396