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

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.

Understanding the molecular mechanisms by which plants sense and adapt to changes in the space environment is essential for generating plants that are better adapted to withstand space flight microgravity and other adverse conditions encountered in space. The objective of our spaceflight experiment x93Plant Signaling in Microgravity x94 (carried out on the International Space Station ISS) was to compare transcript profiles of wild type and transgenic InsP 5-ptase plants with compromised InsP3 signaling. The transgenic Arabidopsis plants constitutively express the mammalian type I inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatase (InsP 5-ptase) an enzyme that specifically hydrolyzes the lipid-derived second messenger inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3). These transgenic plants exhibit normal growth and morphology; however their responses to environmental stimuli including gravity and drought are altered. Seedlings were grown for 5 days under continuous light in experimental containers placed in the European Modular Cultivation system (EMCS) onboard the ISS. The EMCS consists of two rotors within a controlled chamber allowing for a x931g x94 control in space. After sample retrieval from the ISS RNA was isolated from shoot and root tissue and subjected to RNA sequencing. Two-way comparisons of micro g versus x931 x94g have uncovered regulatory mechanisms that are both conserved and altered between the wild type and transgenic seedlings.

Data were generated as part of a NASA-funded study (Turek F (PI) et al. Effects of Spaceflight on Gastrointestinal Microbiota in Mice: Mechanisms and Impact on Multi-System. NASA NRA: NRA NNH14ZTT002N). As part of the study we requested and received samples from RR1. We generated 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequence data from DNA extracted from fecal samples and compared these data to similar data generated on shuttle mission STS-135 and from ground-based studies of radiation. We assessed effect of flight conditions and radiation.

The microbial composition of the International Space Station (ISS) environment is of critical interest due to potential impact of its constituents on human health and operational mission success. This study examined the whole metagenome of ISS microbes at both a species- and gene-level resolution. Air filter and dust samples from the ISS were analyzed and compared to samples collected in a terrestrial cleanroom environment. Samples were collected from ISS and cleanroom environments and treated to examine DNA from total versus viable populations. Microbial genes relevant to human health such as antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes were quantified.

Bone loss and immune dysregulation are among the main adverse outcomes of spaceflight challenging astronaut xe2 x80 x99s health and safety. However consequences on B cell development and responses are still under-investigated. Up to now most studies addressing these questions were performed using an amphibian species. Consequently we used advanced proteomics analysis of femur bone and marrow of mice flown for one month on board the BION-M1 biosatellite to determine whether extreme conditions encountered during a real spaceflight affect B cell development in mice and to examine reversibility of the effects upon return to Earth. Our data revealed that adverse effects on B lymphopoiesis were more marked one week after landing and that this phenomenon was associated with a 41% reduction of B cells in the spleen. Thus the effects of spaceflight persisted during at least one week after landing. These reductions may contribute to explain increased susceptibility to infection even if we confirmed that animals were able to mount a humoral immune response.

Draft genomes of various bacterial phyla isolated from different locations on the International Space Station, as part of the Microbial Tracking 2 mission (ISS-MOP).

Exposure to bioaerosols can negatively impact human health. On the International Space Station (ISS) this exposure differs to that on Earth due to lack of gravitational settling and differing microbial sources. It is unknown how microbes are influenced by different particle size fractions in microgravity. The goal of this study is to identify the microbial communities on different particle size fractions taken from the ISS.

DNA methylation is a very important kind of epigenetic modification and participates in many biological functions. Although many previous studies have addressed various plant species the study of global DNA methylation pattern in response to microgravity conditions has been quite limited. In this report we map the changes in Arabidopsis genome methylation patterns - at the single-base resolution - associated with microgravity conditions on board of the spacecraft SJ-10 mission in China.