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Rettberg P, Antunes A, Brucato J, Cabezas P, Collins G, Haddaji A, Kminek G, Leuko S, McKenna-Lawlor S, Moissl-Eichinger C, Fellous JL, Olsson-Francis K, Pearce D, Rabbow E, Royle S, Saunders M, Sephton M, Spry A, Walter N, Wimmer Schweingruber R, Treuet JC. Biological Contamination Prevention for Outer Solar System Moons of Astrobiological Interest: What Do We Need to Know? ASTROBIOLOGY 2019; 19:951-974. [PMID: 30762429 PMCID: PMC6767865 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2018.1996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
To ensure that scientific investments in space exploration are not compromised by terrestrial contamination of celestial bodies, special care needs to be taken to preserve planetary conditions for future astrobiological exploration. Significant effort has been made and is being taken to address planetary protection in the context of inner Solar System exploration. In particular for missions to Mars, detailed internationally accepted guidelines have been established. For missions to the icy moons in the outer Solar System, Europa and Enceladus, the planetary protection requirements are so far based on a probabilistic approach and a conservative estimate of poorly known parameters. One objective of the European Commission-funded project, Planetary Protection of Outer Solar System, was to assess the existing planetary protection approach, to identify inherent knowledge gaps, and to recommend scientific investigations necessary to update the requirements for missions to the icy moons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petra Rettberg
- Research Group Astrobiology, Radiation Biology Department, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Köln, Germany
- Address correspondence to: Petra Rettberg, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Radiation Biology Department, Research Group Astrobiology, Linder Höhe, 51147 Köln, Germany
| | - André Antunes
- GEMM—Group for Extreme and Marine Microbiology, Department of Biology, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, United Kingdom
| | - John Brucato
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Astrophysical Observatory of Arcetri, National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Florence, Italy
| | - Patricia Cabezas
- Science Connect–European Science Foundation (ESF), Strasbourg, France
| | - Geoffrey Collins
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Wheaton College, Massachusetts, Norton, Massachusetts
| | - Alissa Haddaji
- Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), Montpellier, France
| | - Gerhard Kminek
- Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), Montpellier, France
| | - Stefan Leuko
- Research Group Astrobiology, Radiation Biology Department, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Köln, Germany
| | | | | | - Jean-Louis Fellous
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Wheaton College, Massachusetts, Norton, Massachusetts
| | - Karen Olsson-Francis
- Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, School of Environment, Earth & Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - David Pearce
- Department of Applied Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle, United Kingdom
| | - Elke Rabbow
- Research Group Astrobiology, Radiation Biology Department, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Köln, Germany
| | - Samuel Royle
- Faculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Science & Engineering, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom
| | - Mark Saunders
- Independent Consultant for the US National Academies of Sciences (NAS), Washington, District of Columbia
| | - Mark Sephton
- Faculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Science & Engineering, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom
| | - Andy Spry
- Carl Sagan Center, SETI, Mountain View, California
| | - Nicolas Walter
- Science Connect–European Science Foundation (ESF), Strasbourg, France
| | - Robert Wimmer Schweingruber
- Institut für Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, Abteilung Extraterrestrische Physik, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
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Moeller R, Reitz G, Berger T, Okayasu R, Nicholson WL, Horneck G. Astrobiological aspects of the mutagenesis of cosmic radiation on bacterial spores. ASTROBIOLOGY 2010; 10:509-521. [PMID: 20624059 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2009.0429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Based on their unique resistance to various space parameters, Bacillus endospores are one of the model systems used for astrobiological studies. In this study, spores of B. subtilis were used to study the effects of galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) on spore survival and induced mutagenesis. In interplanetary space, outside Earth's protective magnetic field, spore-containing rocks would be exposed to bombardment by high-energy charged particle radiation from galactic sources and from the Sun, which consists of photons (X-rays, gamma rays), protons, electrons, and heavy, high-energy charged (HZE) particles. B. subtilis spores were irradiated with X-rays and accelerated heavy ions (helium, carbon, silicon and iron) in the linear energy transfer (LET) range of 2-200 keV/mum. Spore survival and the rate of the induced mutations to rifampicin resistance (Rif(R)) depended on the LET of the applied species of ions and radiation, whereas the exposure to high-energy charged particles, for example, iron ions, led to a low level of spore survival and increased frequency of mutation to Rif(R) compared to low-energy charged particles and X-rays. Twenty-one Rif(R) mutant spores were isolated from X-ray and heavy ion-irradiated samples. Nucleotide sequencing located the Rif(R) mutations in the rpoB gene encoding the beta-subunit of RNA polymerase. Most mutations were primarily found in Cluster I and were predicted to result in amino acid changes at residues Q469L, A478V, and H482P/Y. Four previously undescribed alleles in B. subtilis rpoB were isolated: L467P, R484P, and A488P in Cluster I and H507R in the spacer between Clusters I and II. The spectrum of Rif(R) mutations arising from spores exposed to components of GCR is distinctly different from those of spores exposed to simulated space vacuum and martian conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ralf Moeller
- German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Radiation Biology Department, Cologne, Germany.
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Ichida H, Matsuyama T, Ryuto H, Hayashi Y, Fukunishi N, Abe T, Koba T. Molecular characterization of microbial mutations induced by ion beam irradiation. Mutat Res 2008; 639:101-7. [PMID: 18068202 DOI: 10.1016/j.mrfmmm.2007.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2007] [Revised: 10/12/2007] [Accepted: 10/26/2007] [Indexed: 04/25/2023]
Abstract
A positive selection system for gene disruption using a sucrose-sensitive transgenic rhizobium was established and used for the molecular characterization of mutations induced by ion beam irradiations. Single nucleotide substitutions, insertions, and deletions were found to occur in the sucrose sensitivity gene, sacB, when the reporter line was irradiated with highly accelerated carbon and iron ion beams. In all of the insertion lines, fragments of essentially the same sequence and of approximately 1188bp in size were identified in the sacB regions. In the deletion lines, iron ions showed a tendency to induce larger deletions than carbon ions, suggesting that higher LET beams cause larger deletions. We found also that ion beams, particularly "heavier" ion beams, can produce single gene disruptions and may present an effective alternative to transgenic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroyuki Ichida
- Graduate School of Science and Technology, Chiba University, Matsudo, Chiba 271-8510, Japan.
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Abstract
Each recent report of liquid water existing elsewhere in the Solar System has reverberated through the international press and excited the imagination of humankind. Why? Because in the past few decades we have come to realize that where there is liquid water on Earth, virtually no matter what the physical conditions, there is life. What we previously thought of as insurmountable physical and chemical barriers to life, we now see as yet another niche harbouring 'extremophiles'. This realization, coupled with new data on the survival of microbes in the space environment and modelling of the potential for transfer of life between celestial bodies, suggests that life could be more common than previously thought. Here we examine critically what it means to be an extremophile, and the implications of this for evolution, biotechnology and especially the search for life in the Universe.
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Affiliation(s)
- L J Rothschild
- NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035-1000, USA.
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Harada K, Nagaoka S, Mohri M, Ohnishi T, Sugahara T. Lethality of high linear energy transfer cosmic radiation to Escherichia coli DNA repair-deficient mutants during the 'SL-J/FMPT' space experiment. FEMS Microbiol Lett 1998; 164:39-45. [PMID: 9675849 DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1998.tb13065.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated the lethal and mutagenic effects of high linear energy transfer cosmic radiation on 11 strains of Escherichia coli, including DNA repair-deficient mutants, using the Radiation Monitoring Container and Dosimeter in the space shuttle 'Endeavour' as part of the 'SL-J/FMPT' space experiment, the 'Fuwatto '92' project. After the return to earth of the shuttle, we evaluated survival and mutations of samples in space and matched controls. The surviving fractions were determined by means of colony count on broth agar plates, and the mutation frequencies were estimated by appearance of arg' revertants on minimal agar plates. The average of the total equivalent dose rate during this space flight was 0.202 mSv/day as measured by the plastic radiation detectors and the thermoluminescent dosimeters in the Radiation Monitoring Container and Dosimeter. The combined action of DNA polymerase and 3'-->5' exonuclease activities was found to make the greatest contribution to the repair of cosmic radiation-induced DNA damage, 5'-->3' exonuclease and recombination repair enzyme activities made a moderate contribution, whereas UV endonuclease activity was not involved in this DNA repair process.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Harada
- Health Research Foundation, Kyoto, Japan.
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