[ExI] exposing microbes to space increases virulence

[John Grigg]

I found this article about certain microbes greatly increasing in virulence
when living/reproducing in space to be very disturbing.  I hope researchers
can get a handle on it.

John

http://www.biodesign.asu.edu/news/1501

 Microscopic 'astronauts' to go back in orbit

When space shuttle Endeavor blasted off at 2:28 a.m. EST on March 11 to make
a blazing torch against the backdrop of night, some tiny 'astronauts'
piggybacked onboard an experimental payload from Arizona State University's
Biodesign Institute.

The new experiment, called "Microbial Drug Resistance Virulence" is part of
the STS-123 space shuttle Endeavor mission. It will continue the research
studies of Cheryl Nickerson, PhD, project leader and scientist in the
institute's Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology. Nickerson has
been at the forefront on studying the risks of germs associated with
spaceflight to the health and well being of the crew.

"Wherever people go, germs will follow," said Nickerson, who is also an
associate professor at ASU's School of Life Sciences. Last fall, she
completed a multi-institutional study that showed for the first time that
microbes could be affected by spaceflight, making them more infectious
pathogens. The results were from a payload flown onboard space shuttle
Atlantis in 2006.

Spaceflight not only altered bacterial gene expression but also increased
the ability of these organisms to cause disease, or virulence, and did so in
novel ways. Compared to identical bacteria that remained on earth, the
space-traveling *Salmonella*, a leading cause of food-borne illness, had
changed expression of 167 genes. In addition, bacteria that were flown in
space were almost three times as likely to cause disease when compared with
control bacteria grown on the ground.

Now, her research team, which includes James Wilson, PhD, Laura Quick,
Richard Davis, Emily Richter, Aurelie Crabbe and Shameema Sarker, will have
an extraordinarily rare opportunity to fly a repeat experiment of their NASA
payload to confirm their earlier results.

"We are very fortunate to get a follow up flight opportunity, because in
spaceflight, you only get one shot for everything to go just right," said
Nickerson. "We saw unique bacterial responses in flight and these responses
are giving us new information about how *Salmonella* causes disease. NASA is
giving us the opportunity to independently replicate the virulence studies
of *Salmonella typhimurium* from our last shuttle experiment and to do a
follow-up experiment to test our hypothesis about new ways this bacteria
causes disease in this unique environment."

In the new experimental wrinkle, the team will test a hypothesis that may
lead to decreasing or preventing the risk for infectious diseases to
astronauts. The experiment will determine if the modulation of different ion
(mineral) concentrations may be used as a novel way to counteract or block
the spaceflight-associated increase in the disease-causing potential that
was seen in *Salmonella*.

In addition, the project will support three other independent investigators
to determine the effect of spaceflight on the gene expression and virulence
potential of other model microorganisms, including: Dave Niesel, University
of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, *Streptococcus pneumoniae*; Mike
McGinnis, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, *Saccharomyces
cerevisiae*; and Barry Pyle, Montana State University, *Pseudomonas
aeruginosa*.

These microorganisms were chosen because they are well studied organisms
that have been, or have the potential to be, isolated from the space
shuttle, Mir space station, International Space Station, or its crew, or
have been shown to exhibit altered virulence in response to spaceflight.
These organisms are all important human pathogens that cause a significant
amount of human morbidity and mortality on Earth as well.

"We now have a wide variety of supportive evidence that the unique low fluid
shear culture environment the bacteria encounter in space is relevant to
what pathogens encounter in our body, including during Salmonella infection
in the gut, and there may be a common regulatory theme governing the
microbial responses," said Nickerson. "But to prove that, we need to fly
these common bugs together with the same hardware on the same flight so that
everyone is tested under the same conditions.

The investigators believe that information gained from these studies will
prove beneficial in assessing microbiological risks and options for reducing
those risks during crew missions. When taken together, these studies will
ultimately provide significant insights into the molecular basis of
microbial virulence. Once specific molecular targets are identified, there
is the potential for vaccine development and other novel strategies for
prevention and treatment of disease caused by these microbes both on the
ground and during spaceflight.

"We are learning new things about how Salmonella is causing disease," said
Nickerson. "There is compelling evidence that the unique environment of
spaceflight provides important insight into a variety of fundamental human
health issues with tremendous potential for the commercial development of
novel enabling technologies to enhance human health here on Earth, said
Nickerson.

The research studies are supported by several grants from NASA.
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