Rare Spacecraft Bacterium Found To Evade Detection By Playing Dead

A uncommon microorganism recovered successful an unexpected situation whitethorn beryllium evading discovery by "playing dead," according to microbiologists astatine nan University of Houston.

Discovered successful NASA spacecraft assembly cleanable rooms, this uncommon caller bacterium, called Tersicoccus phoenicis (T. phoenicis), could person awesome implications for planetary protection and cleanable room sterilization practices, said Madhan Tirumalai, lead writer of this study published successful August successful Microbiology Spectrum, a peer-reviewed technological diary from nan American Society for Microbiology.

Originally discovered complete a decade agone successful 2 cleanable rooms successful Florida and French Guiana, T. phoenicis amazed scientists, arsenic these accommodation are rigorously cleaned to forestall microbial contamination of spacecraft and, potentially, different planets.

Tirumalai, a investigation adjunct professor successful UH's Department of Biology and Biochemistry, collaborated pinch others from nan section - Professor William Widger, postgraduate student Sahar Ali and Emeritus Professor George E. Fox - to analyse really T. phoenicis survived successful nan harsh environment.

Their investigation revealed nan bacterium could perchance evade discovery by entering dormancy, a authorities of highly debased metabolic activity wherever it stops growing.

"These cleanable rooms are utmost habitats for microbial adjustment and evolution," Tirumalai said. "These findings item nan resilience of spacecraft-associated microbes, and it has a immense planetary protection concern."

The way to discovery

T. phoenicis is simply a non-spore-forming strain personnel of actinobacteria. While small was antecedently known astir this circumstantial strain, different actinobacteria - specified arsenic nan bacterium that causes tuberculosis, namely Mycobacterium tuberculosis - are known to participate dormancy erstwhile they tally retired of nutrition.

Dormancy is simply a cardinal endurance strategy for actinobacteria, allowing them to defy antibiotics and stay inactive until conditions improve.

The UH squad knew a related actinobacteria, Micrococcus luteus (M. luteus), tin beryllium revived from dormancy by utilizing a resuscitation-promoting facet - a communal macromolecule recovered successful actinobacteria. Because M. luteus and T. phoenicis stock familial features, nan researchers tested really T. phoenicis responded to nan protein.

The investigation group of Widger's, of which Ali is simply a portion of, already had nan basal ingredients to transportation retired nan test.

When they added nan protein, T. phoenicis cells "woke up," confirming nan bacterium tin "play dead" to past nutrient starvation and perchance defy nan stringent conditions successful spacecraft cleanable rooms, Widger said.

What's next?

Beyond spacecraft assembly facilities, dormant actinobacteria whitethorn beryllium hiding successful different sterile environments, specified arsenic hospitals, pharmaceutical labs and nutrient processing facilities. As investigation into microbial endurance successful utmost environments advances, Tirumalai said he hopes it will lead to amended discovery methods and much effective sterilization strategies.

"I deliberation different industries are missing nan thought that these germs tin evade discovery successful their cleanable rooms by going dormant," Widger said. "We don't cognize if they're going to beryllium nasty germs - they whitethorn not beryllium - but it would beryllium bully to cognize if they're location aliases not."

UH researchers' findings could besides lend to further power of pathogenic germs for illustration nan 1 that causes tuberculosis. If scientists tin forestall these germs from entering dormancy, they whitethorn go easier to destruct pinch antibiotics aliases sterilization techniques.

"If we tin find a measurement to forestall nan germs from going latent, possibly nan antibiotics could termination it earlier it goes into dormancy," Widger said.