A Molecular Genetic Basis Explaining Altered Bacterial Behavior in Space

Higher final cell counts, enhanced biofilm formation, increased virulence, and reduced susceptibility to antibiotics have been reported to occur for cells cultured in space . Most of these phenomena are theorized as being an indirect effect of an altered extracellular environment, where the carbon source uptake is inhibited and excreted acidic byproducts buildup around the cell due to the lack of gravity-driven transport forces.

However, to date neither spaceflight results, ground-based studies, physical measurement techniques nor computational approaches have provided sufficient evidence needed to confirm this model. Gene expression data from the Antibiotic Effectiveness in Space (AES-1) experiment, however, have now allowed us to look into the biomolecular processes behind these observations and showed a systematic activation of glucose starvation and acid resistance genes.