Microbial Characterization during the Early Habitation of the International Space Station
- 1 February 2004
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Microbial Ecology
- Vol. 47 (2), 119-126
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-003-1030-y
Abstract
An evaluation of the microbiota from air, water, and surface samples provided a baseline of microbial characterization onboard the International Space Station (ISS) to gain insight into bacterial and fungal contamination during the initial stages of construction and habitation. Using 16S genetic sequencing and rep-PCR, 63 bacterial strains were isolated for identification and fingerprinted for microbial tracking. Of the bacterial strains that were isolated and fingerprinted, 19 displayed similarity to each other. The use of these molecular tools allowed for the identification of bacteria not previously identified using automated biochemical analysis and provided a clear indication of the source of several ISS contaminants. Strains of Bradyrhizobium and Sphingomonas unable to be identified using sequencing were identified by comparison of rep-PCR DNA fingerprints. Distinct DNA fingerprints for several strains of Methylobacterium provided a clear indication of the source of an ISS water supply contaminant. Fungal and bacterial data acquired during monitoring do not suggest there is a current microbial hazard to the spacecraft, nor does any trend indicate a potential health risk. Previous spacecraft environmental analysis indicated that microbial contamination will increase with time and will require continued surveillance.Keywords
This publication has 7 references indexed in Scilit:
- Bacterial Population in Russian Space Station “Mir”Microbiology and Immunology, 2001
- Microbial contamination of spacecraft.2001
- A method for monitoring the health of US Navy submarine crewmembers during periods of isolation.2000
- Dynamics of Airborne Fungal Populations in a Large Office BuildingCurrent Microbiology, 2000
- Microbiology of the Space Shuttle water system.1997
- Microbiology of the submarine environment.1972
- The Tektite-I DiveArchives of environmental health, 1970