One of the spore-formers isolated from a spacecraft-assembly facility, belonging to the …

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Methods
• Results and Discussion
• References
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Biology Articles » Astrobiology » Bacillus nealsonii sp. nov., isolated from a spacecraft-assembly facility, whose spores are -radiation resistant » Introduction

Introduction

- Bacillus nealsonii sp. nov., isolated from a spacecraft-assembly facility, whose spores are -radiation resistant

INTRODUCTION 

The main focus of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's planetary-protection efforts is the development of cleaning and sterilization technologies for spacecraft preparation prior to launch. Knowledge of the microbial diversity of spacecraft-assembly facilities, as well as any extreme characteristics these microbes might possess, is essential to the development of these technologies. The spacecraft-assembly facilities can be considered extreme environments created by the controlled air circulation, low humidity and low-nutrient conditions found in these clean-rooms. A wide variety of micro-organisms can survive under such conditions (Puleo et al., 1973, 1975, 1977; Venkateswaran et al., 2001).

In on-going investigations to determine and document possible microbial contamination on representative spacecraft components and accessories, several physiologically and phylogenetically novel micro-organisms were encountered (Venkateswaran et al., 2001). Witness plates made of spacecraft-quality stainless steel were exposed for ~9 months at a Jet Propulsion Laboratory Spacecraft Assembly Facility (JPL-SAF) and the particulate materials collected revealed the presence of novel Bacillus species. Micro-organisms that exhibit resistance to an assortment of free radicals and conditions employed in emergent technologies for sterilization of spacecraft components are significant. Here, we describe Bacillus nealsonii, whose spores are resistant to UV, g-radiation, H₂O₂ and desiccation.