TY  - JOUR
U1  - Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
A1  - Fagliarone, Claudia
A1  - Mosca, Claudia
A1  - Di Stefano, Giorgia
A1  - Leuko, Stefan
A1  - Moeller, Ralf
A1  - Rabbow, Elke
A1  - Rettberg, Petra
A1  - Billi, Daniela
T1  - Enabling deep-space experimentations on cyanobacteria by monitoring cell division resumption in dried Chroococcidiopsis sp. 029 with accumulated DNA damage
JF  - Frontiers in Microbiology
N2  - Cyanobacteria are gaining considerable interest as a method of supporting the long-term presence of humans on the Moon and settlements on Mars due to their ability to produce oxygen and their potential as bio-factories for space biotechnology/synthetic biology and other applications. Since many unknowns remain in our knowledge to bridge the gap and move cyanobacterial bioprocesses from Earth to space, we investigated cell division resumption on the rehydration of dried Chroococcidiopsis sp. CCMEE 029 accumulated DNA damage while exposed to space vacuum, Mars-like conditions, and Fe-ion radiation. Upon rehydration, the monitoring of the ftsZ gene showed that cell division was arrested until DNA damage was repaired, which took 48 h under laboratory conditions. During the recovery, a progressive DNA repair lasting 48 h of rehydration was revealed by PCR-stop assay. This was followed by overexpression of the ftsZ gene, ranging from 7.5- to 9-fold compared to the non-hydrated samples. Knowing the time required for DNA repair and cell division resumption is mandatory for deep-space experiments that are designed to unravel the effects of reduced/microgravity on this process. It is also necessary to meet mission requirements for dried-sample implementation and real-time monitoring upon recovery. Future experiments as part of the lunar exploration mission Artemis and the lunar gateway station will undoubtedly help to move cyanobacterial bioprocesses beyond low Earth orbit. From an astrobiological perspective, these experiments will further our understanding of microbial responses to deep-space conditions.
KW  - DNA damage
KW  - Fe-ion radiation
KW  - cell division
KW  - desert cyanobacteria
KW  - outer space
Y1  - 2023
UN  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hbz:1044-opus-70297
SN  - 1664-302X
SS  - 1664-302X
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1150224
DO  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1150224
PM  - 37266021
VL  - 14
SP  - 7
S1  - 7
PB  - Frontiers Media
ER  -