Mysterious bacteria with ‘unique abilities' discovered on Chinese space station
Bact to the future.
Chinese scientists discovered a novel strain of bacterium with 'unique abilities' that allowed it to thrive on the Tiangong Space Station, according to a report.
The newly named Niallia tiangongensis was isolated by taikonauts from surface hardware on the China Space Station, according to a paper from the Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering published in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.
The novel strain is closely related to the terrestrial bacterium Niallia circulans, which is found in soil, sewage, food and human stool — but exhibits several mutations that could prove beneficial in the study of life as it moves out into space, the paper claimed.
Scientists said the novel strain 'demonstrates a unique ability to hydrolyze gelatin suggesting that it can utilize gelatin as a substrate in nutrient-limited environments,' according to the paper.
Nialla t. further showed 'structural and functional' difference in two key proteins which 'may enhance' biofilm formation, oxidative stress response and repair radiation damage, scientists claimed.
The novel strain is closely related to a bacteria found in soil, sewage, food and human stool.
Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 4.0
Bacteria in a petri dish similar to that swabbed with sterile wipes on China's Tiangong Space Station.
ridvanarda – stock.adobe.com
All of these unique formations, likely mutations of the earthly bacteria developed in space, make Nialla tiangongensis incredibly resilient and adaptable to the space environment, the paper stated.
Taikonauts from the China Space Station Habitation Area Microbiome Program collected the novel strain in 2023 using a somewhat homespun protocol — sterile wipes to swab the surface of the station and returning the frozen wipes to Earth, South China Morning Post reported.
The program, called CHAMP, tracks microbial dynamics during long-term space operations, conducting research related to active substances, genetic resources, and metabolic functions of microbes, according to that report.
Knowledge gleaned from these tests will be key for long-term, manned space flights, but also will be useful for medicine and agriculture, according to the report.
A similar icky discovery was made on the International Space Station last year — when American astronauts discovered a mutated and drug-resistant version of a common bacterium that is also commonly found in the human gastrointestinal tract, a study showed.
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