TY  - JOUR
AU  - Orlovska, Iryna
AU  - Podolich, Olga
AU  - Kukharenko, Olga
AU  - Zaets, Iryna
AU  - Reva, Oleg
AU  - Khirunenko, Ludmila
AU  - Zmejkoski, Danica
AU  - Rogalsky, Sergiy
AU  - Barh, Debmalya
AU  - Tiwari, Sandeep
AU  - Kumavath, Ranjith
AU  - Góes-Neto, Aristóteles
AU  - Azevedo, Vasco
AU  - Brenig, Bertram
AU  - Ghosh, Preetam
AU  - de Vera, Jean-Pierre
AU  - Kozyrovska, Natalia
PY  - 2021
UR  - https://vinar.vin.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/9849
AB  - Cellulose is a widespread macromolecule in terrestrial environments and a major architectural component of microbial biofilm. Therefore, cellulose might be considered a biosignature that indicates the presence of microbial life. We present, for the first time, characteristics of bacterial cellulose after long-term spaceflight and exposure to simuled Mars-like stressors. The pristine cellulose-based pellicle membranes from a kombucha microbial community (KMC) were exposed outside the International Space Station, and after their return to Earth, the samples were reactivated and cultured for 2.5 years to discern whether the KMC could be restored. Analyses of cellulose polymer integrity and mechanical properties of cellulose-based pellicle films, as well as the cellulose biosynthesis-related genes' structure and expression, were performed. We observed that (i) the cellulose polymer integrity was not significantly changed under Mars-like conditions; (ii) de novo cellulose production was 1.5 times decreased in exposed KMC samples; (iii) the dry cellulose yield from the reisolated Komagataeibacter oboediens was 1.7 times lower than by wild type; (iv) there was no significant change in mechanical properties of the de novo synthesized cellulose-based pellicles produced by the exposed KMCs and K. oboediens; and (v) the gene, encoding biosynthesis of cellulose (bcsA) of the K. oboediens, was downregulated, and no topological change or mutation was observed in any of the bcs operon genes, indicating that the decreased cellulose production by the space-exposed samples was probably due to epigenetic regulation. Our results suggest that the cellulose-based pellicle could be a good material with which to protect microbial communities during space journeys, and the cellulose produced by KMC members could be suitable in the fabrication of consumer goods for extraterrestrial locations.
T2  - Astrobiology
T1  - Bacterial Cellulose Retains Robustness but Its Synthesis Declines After Exposure to a Mars-like Environment Simulated Outside the International Space Station
VL  - 21
IS  - 6
SP  - 706
EP  - 717
DO  - 10.1089/ast.2020.2332
ER  - 

@article{
author = "Orlovska, Iryna and Podolich, Olga and Kukharenko, Olga and Zaets, Iryna and Reva, Oleg and Khirunenko, Ludmila and Zmejkoski, Danica and Rogalsky, Sergiy and Barh, Debmalya and Tiwari, Sandeep and Kumavath, Ranjith and Góes-Neto, Aristóteles and Azevedo, Vasco and Brenig, Bertram and Ghosh, Preetam and de Vera, Jean-Pierre and Kozyrovska, Natalia",
year = "2021",
abstract = "Cellulose is a widespread macromolecule in terrestrial environments and a major architectural component of microbial biofilm. Therefore, cellulose might be considered a biosignature that indicates the presence of microbial life. We present, for the first time, characteristics of bacterial cellulose after long-term spaceflight and exposure to simuled Mars-like stressors. The pristine cellulose-based pellicle membranes from a kombucha microbial community (KMC) were exposed outside the International Space Station, and after their return to Earth, the samples were reactivated and cultured for 2.5 years to discern whether the KMC could be restored. Analyses of cellulose polymer integrity and mechanical properties of cellulose-based pellicle films, as well as the cellulose biosynthesis-related genes' structure and expression, were performed. We observed that (i) the cellulose polymer integrity was not significantly changed under Mars-like conditions; (ii) de novo cellulose production was 1.5 times decreased in exposed KMC samples; (iii) the dry cellulose yield from the reisolated Komagataeibacter oboediens was 1.7 times lower than by wild type; (iv) there was no significant change in mechanical properties of the de novo synthesized cellulose-based pellicles produced by the exposed KMCs and K. oboediens; and (v) the gene, encoding biosynthesis of cellulose (bcsA) of the K. oboediens, was downregulated, and no topological change or mutation was observed in any of the bcs operon genes, indicating that the decreased cellulose production by the space-exposed samples was probably due to epigenetic regulation. Our results suggest that the cellulose-based pellicle could be a good material with which to protect microbial communities during space journeys, and the cellulose produced by KMC members could be suitable in the fabrication of consumer goods for extraterrestrial locations.",
journal = "Astrobiology",
title = "Bacterial Cellulose Retains Robustness but Its Synthesis Declines After Exposure to a Mars-like Environment Simulated Outside the International Space Station",
volume = "21",
number = "6",
pages = "706-717",
doi = "10.1089/ast.2020.2332"
}

Orlovska, I., Podolich, O., Kukharenko, O., Zaets, I., Reva, O., Khirunenko, L., Zmejkoski, D., Rogalsky, S., Barh, D., Tiwari, S., Kumavath, R., Góes-Neto, A., Azevedo, V., Brenig, B., Ghosh, P., de Vera, J.,& Kozyrovska, N.. (2021). Bacterial Cellulose Retains Robustness but Its Synthesis Declines After Exposure to a Mars-like Environment Simulated Outside the International Space Station. in Astrobiology, 21(6), 706-717.
https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2020.2332

Orlovska I, Podolich O, Kukharenko O, Zaets I, Reva O, Khirunenko L, Zmejkoski D, Rogalsky S, Barh D, Tiwari S, Kumavath R, Góes-Neto A, Azevedo V, Brenig B, Ghosh P, de Vera J, Kozyrovska N. Bacterial Cellulose Retains Robustness but Its Synthesis Declines After Exposure to a Mars-like Environment Simulated Outside the International Space Station. in Astrobiology. 2021;21(6):706-717.
doi:10.1089/ast.2020.2332 .

Orlovska, Iryna, Podolich, Olga, Kukharenko, Olga, Zaets, Iryna, Reva, Oleg, Khirunenko, Ludmila, Zmejkoski, Danica, Rogalsky, Sergiy, Barh, Debmalya, Tiwari, Sandeep, Kumavath, Ranjith, Góes-Neto, Aristóteles, Azevedo, Vasco, Brenig, Bertram, Ghosh, Preetam, de Vera, Jean-Pierre, Kozyrovska, Natalia, "Bacterial Cellulose Retains Robustness but Its Synthesis Declines After Exposure to a Mars-like Environment Simulated Outside the International Space Station" in Astrobiology, 21, no. 6 (2021):706-717,
https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2020.2332 . .