Survival of microorganisms in space: a review
Spores of Bacillus subtilis were exposed to selected factors of space (vacuum, solar uv radiation, heavy cosmic ray ions), and their response was studied after recovery. These investigations were supplemented by ground-based studies under a simulated space conditions. The vacuum of space did not inactivate the spores. However, vacuum-induced structural changes in the DNA, and probably in the proteins, caused a supersensitivity to solar uv radiation. This phenomenon is caused by the production of specific photoproducts in DNA and protein, which cannot be removed by normal cellular repair processes. In vegetative bacterial cells exposed to vacuum, cell dehydration led to damage of the cell membrane, which could be partly repaired during subsequent incubation. The high local effectiveness of the heavy cosmic ray ions further decreases the chance that spores can survive for any length of time in space. Nonetheless, a spore travelling through space and protected from ultraviolet radiation could possibly survive an interplanetary journey. Such a situation favors panspermia as a possible explanation for the origin of life.
- Research Organization:
- Deutsche Forschungs- und Versuchsanstalt fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt, Institut fuer Flugmedizin, Frankfurt am Main, West Germany
- OSTI ID:
- 5402139
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8006190-
- Journal Information:
- Adv. Space Res.; (United States), Journal Name: Adv. Space Res.; (United States) Vol. 1:14; ISSN ASRSD
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
BACILLUS
BACILLUS SUBTILIS
BACTERIA
BACTERIAL SPORES
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
COSMIC RADIATION
DNA
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MICROORGANISMS
MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES
NUCLEIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PROTEINS
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATIONS
RADIOSENSITIVITY
SOLAR RADIATION
SPACE FLIGHT
SPORES
STELLAR RADIATION
SURVIVAL CURVES
ULTRAHIGH VACUUM
ULTRASTRUCTURAL CHANGES
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION