Bacterial Cellulose Enables Microbial Life on Mars
upstart writes:
An international research team including the University of Gottingen has investigated the chances of survival of kombucha cultures under Mars-like conditions. Kombucha is known as a drink, sometimes called tea fungus or mushroom tea, which is produced by fermenting sugared tea using kombucha cultures - a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. Although the simulated Martian environment destroyed the microbial ecology of the kombucha cultures, surprisingly, a cellulose-producing bacterial species survived. The results were published in Frontiers in Microbiology.
[...] The results suggest that the cellulose produced by the bacteria is probably responsible for their survival in extraterrestrial conditions. This also provides the first evidence that bacterial cellulose could be a biomarker for extraterrestrial life and cellulose-based membranes or films could be a good biomaterial for protecting life and producing consumer goods in extraterrestrial settlements.
[...] Another focus was on investigations into changes in antibiotic resistance: the research team was able to show that the total number of antibiotic and metal resistance genes - meaning that these microorganisms might survive despite antibiotics or metals in the environment - were enriched in the exposed cultures. "This result shows that the difficulties associated with antibiotic resistance in medicine in space should be given special attention in the future," the scientists said.
Journal Reference:
Santana de Carvalho et al, The Space-Exposed Kombucha Microbial Community Member Komagataeibacter oboediens Showed Only Minor Changes in Its Genome After Reactivation on Earth, Frontiers in Microbiology, 2022. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.782175
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