<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Spaceflight missions affect the behavior of microbes that are inevitably introduced into space environments and may impact astronauts’ health. Current studies have mainly focused on the biological characteristics and molecular mechanisms of microbes after short-term or long-term spaceflight, but few have compared the impact of various lengths of spaceflight missions on the characteristics of microbes. Researchers generally agree that microgravity (MG) is the most critical factor influencing microbial physiology in space capsules during flight missions. This study compared the growth behavior and transcriptome profile of <italic>Proteus mirabilis</italic> cells exposed to long-term simulated microgravity (SMG) with those exposed to short-term SMG. The results showed that long-term SMG decreased the growth rate, depressed biofilm formation ability, and affected several transcriptomic profiles, including stress response, membrane transportation, metal ion transportation, biological adhesion, carbohydrate metabolism, and lipid metabolism in contrast to short-term SMG. This study improved the understanding of long-term versus short-term SMG effects on <italic>P. mirabilis</italic> behavior and provided relevant references for analyzing the influence of <italic>P. mirabilis</italic> on astronaut health during spaceflights.</p></abstract>

Spaceflight missions affect the behavior of microbes that are inevitably introduced into space environments and may impact astronauts’ health. Current studies have mainly focused on the biological characteristics and molecular mechanisms of microbes after short-term or long-term spaceflight, but few have compared the impact of various lengths of spaceflight missions on the characteristics of microbes. Researchers generally agree that microgravity (MG) is the most critical factor influencing microbial physiology in space capsules during flight missions. This study compared the growth behavior and transcriptome profile of Proteus mirabilis cells exposed to long-term simulated microgravity (SMG) with those exposed to short-term SMG. The results showed that long-term SMG decreased the growth rate, depressed biofilm formation ability, and affected several transcriptomic profiles, including stress response, membrane transportation, metal ion transportation, biological adhesion, carbohydrate metabolism, and lipid metabolism in contrast to short-term SMG. This study improved the understanding of long-term versus short-term SMG effects on P. mirabilis behavior and provided relevant references for analyzing the influence of P. mirabilis on astronaut health during spaceflights.

Growth Behavior and Transcriptome Profile Analysis of <italic>Proteus mirabilis</italic> Strain Under Long- versus Short-Term Simulated Microgravity Environment

Polish Journal of Microbiology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Growth Behavior and Transcriptome Profile Analysis of  Strain Under Long- versus Short-Term Simulated Microgravity Environment

Spaceflight missions affect the behavior of microbes that are inevitably introduced into space environments and may impact astronauts’ health. Current studies...

Growth Behavior and Transcriptome Profile Analysis of Proteus mirabilis Strain Under Long- versus Short-Term Simulated Microgravity Environment

Article Category: Original paper

Published Online: May 23, 2022

Page range: 161 - 171

Received: Dec 31, 2021

Accepted: Mar 07, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33073/pjm-2022-015

Keywords
simulated microgravity, length of time, phenotype, transcriptomics

© 2022 Bin Zhang et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Growth Behavior and Transcriptome Profile Analysis of Proteus mirabilis Strain Under Long- versus Short-Term Simulated Microgravity Environment

Article Category: Original paper

Published Online: May 23, 2022

Page range: 161 - 171

Received: Dec 31, 2021

Accepted: Mar 07, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33073/pjm-2022-015

Keywordssimulated microgravity, length of time, phenotype, transcriptomics

© 2022 Bin Zhang et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
simulated microgravity, length of time, phenotype, transcriptomics