The introduction of generally recognized as safe (GRAS) probiotic microbes into the spaceflight food system has the potential for use as a safe non-invasive daily countermeasure to crew microbiome and immune dysregulation. However the microgravity effects on the stress tolerances and genetic expression of probiotic bacteria must be determined to confirm translation of strain benefits and to identify potential for optimization of growth survival and strain selection for spaceflight. The work presented here demonstrates the translation of characteristics of a GRAS probiotic bacteria to a microgravity analog environment. Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356 was grown in the low shear modeled microgravity (LSMMG) orientation and the control orientation in the rotating wall vessel (RWV) to determine the effect of LSMMG on the growth survival through stress challenge and gene expression of the strain. No differences were observed between the LSMMG and control grown L. acidophilus suggesting that the strain will behave similarly in spaceflight and may be expected to confer Earth-based benefits.

Several studies have reported that microorganisms are co-transported with globally dispersed aerosols and that microbial DNA and viable cells have been detected at both low and high altitudes. In an effort to investigate how microbial patterns change with altitude two research flights were flown using NASA s C-20A Gulfstream III aircraft over the Sierra mountains in the Southern California/Nevada region over two consecutive days. During each flight the aircraft reached 40,000 ft and lowered to 30,000 ft 20,000 ft and 10,000 ft in a stair-step pattern. Bioaerosol samples were collected at each altitude for 30 minutes on gelatinous filters using the Aircraft Bioaerosol Collector (ABC). DNA was extracted from the bioaerosol sample. Whole genome sequencing was performed on the extracted DNA using an Illumina NextSeq 500.

Our study aims to comprehensively understand effects induced by the space environment on mammals. To achieve this aim we analyze the male mice housed under environments as the artificial gravity and the microgravity (space environment) in Japanese Experiment Module JEM) of the International Space Station (ISS) on orbit for 35 days. After recovered these mice on the ground transcriptome analysis by next-generation sequencing technology is performed about spleen to examine alteration of gene expression in the space.

Omics analyses of RNA and protein isolated from heads of microgravity reared adult Drosophila.

Genome sequencing and assembly of fungal isolates belonging to Penicilliium and Aspergillus genera isolated from International Space Station

This study investigated the interplay between the microbial community of the International Space Station and its crew. Environmental samples were collected from 8 habitable locations around the ISS. The microbial composition was measured using shotgun metagenomic sequencing and procesed using the Livermore Metagenomics Analysis Toolkit.

Genome sequencing and assembly of lower Eukaryotic isolates belonging to class Tremellomycetes isolated from International Space Station

Lettuce crops grown in the Veggie payload aboard ISS harvested and returned for chemical microbiological and molecular analysis

The Rodent Research-3 (RR-3) mission was sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co. and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space to study the effectiveness of a potential countermeasure for the loss of muscle and bone mass that occurs during spaceflight. Twenty BALB/c 18-weeks old female mice (ten controls and ten treated) were flown to the ISS and housed in the Rodent Habitat for 39-42 days. Twenty mice of similar age sex and strain were used for ground controls housed in identical hardware and matching ISS environmental conditions. Basal controls were housed in standard vivarium cages. Spaceflight ground controls and basal groups had blood collected then were euthanized had one hind limb removed and finally whole carcasses were stored at -80 C until dissection. All mice in this data set received only the control/sham injection. Spatially resolved transcriptional profiles were generated from hearts from three flight and three ground control animals as follows. Hearts were cryosectioned longitudinally onto an array of capture probes that bind RNA fixed stained and visualized. Heart sections were then permeabilized to release RNA onto the capture probes and cDNA synthesized on the chip so that its spatial arrangement is encoded within a set of molecular barcodes. cDNA was then released and sequenced. Four to five levels of each heart was analyzed in this manner to allow a 3D reconstruction of the transcriptome.

The purpose of this project was to determine the effects of chronic exposure to unpredictable mild socio-environmental stressors during gestation on the TCR-beta repertoire of newborn mice.