SpringerLink
Log in

Multi-resistant biofilm-forming pathogens on the International Space Station

  • Review
  • Published:
Journal of Biosciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The International Space Station (ISS) is a confined and closed habitat with unique conditions such as cosmic radiation, and microgravity. These conditions have a strong effect on the human and spacecraft microflora. They can affect the immune response of the crew-members, thus posing a threat to their health. Microbial diversity and abundance of microorganisms from surfaces, air filters and air samples on the ISS have been studied. Enterobacteriaceae, Bacillus spp., Propionibacterium spp., Corynebacterium spp., and Staphylococcus spp. were among the most frequently isolated bacteria. Microbial growth, biofilm formation, stress response, and pathogenicity are affected by microgravity. Increased resistance to antibiotics in bacteria isolated from the ISS has often been reported. Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus spp. isolates from the ISS have been shown to harbor plasmid-encoded transfer genes. These genes facilitate the dissemination of antibiotic resistances. These features of ISS-pathogens call for novel approaches including highly effective antimicrobials which can be easily used on the ISS. A promising material is the antimicrobial surface coating AGXX®, a self-recycling material consisting of two noble metals. It drastically reduced microbial growth of multi-resistant human pathogens, such as staphylococci and enterococci. Further novel approaches include the application of cold atmospheric plasma for the sterilization of spacecrafts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Germany)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aunins TR, Erickson KE, Prasad N, Levy SE, Jones A, Shrestha S, Mastracchio R, Stodieck L, et al. 2018 Spaceflight modifies Escherichia coli gene expression in response to antibiotic exposure and Reveals role of Oxidative Stress Response. Front. Microbiol. 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00310

  • Ball JR and Evans Jr CH 2001 Safe passage: astronaut care for exploration missions. In Committee on Creating a Vision for Space Medicine During Travel Beyond Earth Orbit, Board on Health Sciences Policy, Washington, DC, USA, National Academy

  • Be NA, Avila-Herrera A, Allen JE, Singh N, Checinska Sielaff A, Jaing C and Venkateswaran K 2017 Whole metagenome profiles of particulates collected from the International Space Station. Microbiome 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-017-0330-2

  • Castro VA, Thrasher AN, Healy M, Ott CM and Pierson DL 2004 Microbial characterization during the early habitation of the international space station. Microb. Ecol. 47 119–126

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Checinska A, Probst AJ, Vaishampayan P, White JR, Kumar D, Stepanov VG and Venkateswaran K 2015 Microbiomes of the dust particles collected from the International Space Station and Spacecraft Assembly Facilities. Microbiome 3 Article number: 50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Checinska Sielaff A, Singh NK, Allen JE, Thissen J, Jaing C, Venkateswaran K 2016 Draft genome sequences of biosafety Level 2 opportunistic pathogens isolated from the environmental surfaces of the International Space Station. Genome Announc. 4. https://doi.org/10.1128/genomeA.01263-16

  • Clauss-Lendzian E, Vaishampayan A, de Jong A, Landau U, Meyer C, Kok J and Grohmann E 2018 Stress response of a clinical Enterococcus faecalis isolate subjected to a novel antimicrobial surface coating. Microbiol. Res. 207 53–64

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Decelle JG and Taylor GR 1976 Autoflora in the upper respiratory tract of Apollo astronauts. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 32 659–665

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Guéguinou N, Huin-Schohn C, Bascove M, Bueb J-L, Tscihart E, Legrand-Frossi C and Frippiat J-P 2009 Could spaceflight-associated immune system weakening preclude the expansion of human presence beyond Earth’s orbit? J. Leukoc. Biol. 86 1027–1038

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guridi A, Diedrich AK, Aguila-Arcos S, Garcia-Moreno M, Blasi R, Broszat M, Schmieder W, Clauss-Lendzian E, et al. 2015 New antimicrobial contact catalyst killing antibiotic resistant clinical and waterborne pathogens. Mater. Sci. Eng. C. Mater. Bio. Appl. 50 1–11

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hintze PE, Franco C, Hummerick ME, Maloney PR and Spencer LE 2017 Evaluation of low-pressure cold plasma for disinfection for ISS grown produce and metallic instrumentation. 47th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 16th-20th July 2017, Charleston, South Carolina

  • Horneck G, Klaus DM and Mancinelli RL 2010 Space Microbiology. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 74 121–156

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ichijo T, Yamaguchi N, Tanigaki F, Shirakawa M and Nasu M 2016 Four-year bacterial monitoring in the International Space Station — Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” with culture-independent approach. NPJ Microgravity 2 Article number: 16007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klintworth R, Reher HJ, Viktorov AN and Bohle D 1999 Biological induced corrosion of materials II: new test methods and experiences from MIR Station. Acta Astronaut. 44 569–578

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lynch SV, Brodie EL, Matin A, and Acteriol JB 2004 Role and regulation of σs in general resistance conferred by low-shear simulated microgravity in Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 186 8207–8212

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morfill G 2012 Max Plank Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, ISS Symposium (oral presentation)

  • Novikova N, De Boever P, Poddubko S, Deshevaya E, Polikarpov N, Rakova N, Coninx I and Mergeay M 2006 Survey of environmental biocontamination on board the International Space Station. Res. Microbiol. 157 5–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schiwon K, Arends K, Rogowski KM, Fuerch S, Prescha K, Sakinc T, Van Houdt R, Werner G, et al. 2013 Comparison of antibiotic resistance, biofilm formation and conjugative transfer of Staphylococcus and Enterococcus isolates from International Space Station and Antarctic research station Concordia. Microb. Ecol. 65 638–651

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh NK, Wood JM, Karouia F and Venkateswaran K 2018a Succession and persistence of microbial communities and antimicrobial resistance genes associated with International Space Station environmental surfaces. Microbiome 6 Article number: 204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh NK, Bezdan D, Checinska Sielaff A, Wheeler K, Mason CE and Venkateswaran K 2018b Multi-drug resistant Enterobacter bugandensis species isolated from the International Space Station and comparative genome analyses with human pathogenic strains. BMC Microbiol. 18 Article number: 175

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sobisch L-Y, Rogowski KM, Fuchs J, Schmieder W, Vaishampayan A, Oles P, Novikova N, and Grohmann E 2019 Biofilm forming antibiotic resistant Gram-positive pathogens isolated from surfaces on the International Space Station. Front. Microbiol. 10 1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sonnenfeld G 1999 Space flight, microgravity, stress, and immune responses. Adv. Space Res. 23 1945–1953

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor PW 2015 Impact of space flight on bacterial virulence and antibiotic susceptibility. Infect. Drug Resist. 8 249–262

  • Tixador R, Richoilley G, Gasset G, Planel H, Moatti N, Lapchine L, Enjalbert L, Raffin J, et al 1985 Preliminary results of Cytos 2 experiment. Acta Astronaut. 12 131–134

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Urbaniak C, Sielaff AC, Frey KG, Allen JE, Singh N, Jaing C and Wheeler K 2018 Detection of antimicrobial resistance genes associated with the International Space Station environmental surfaces. Sci. Rep. 8 1–13

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vaishampayan A, de Jong A, Wight DJ, Kok J and Grohmann E 2018 A novel antimicrobial coating represses biofilm and virulence-related genes in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Front. Microbiol. 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00221

  • Venkateswaran K, Vaishampayan P, Cisneros J, Pierson DL and Rogers SO 2014 International Space Station environmental microbiome — microbial inventories of ISS filter debris. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 98 6453–6466

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson JW, Ott CM, Höner zu Bentrup K, Ramamurthy R, Quick L, Porwollik S, Cheng, P, McClelland M, et al. 2007 Space flight alters bacterial gene expression and virulence and reveals a role for global regulator Hfq. PNAS USA 104 16299–16304

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zea L, Nisar Z, Rubin P, Cortesão M, Luo J, McBride SA, Moeller R, Klaus D, et al. 2018 Design of a spaceflight biofilm experiment. Acta Astronaut. 148 294–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank U. Landau and C. Meyer from Largentec GmbH, Berlin, for providing us with the antimicrobial AGXX® and for helpful discussions. Funding by DLR, German Aerospace Center, (Grants 50WB1166 and 50WB1466 to E.G.) is highly acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Life Sciences and Technology, Beuth University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Germany

    Ankita Vaishampayan & Elisabeth Grohmann

  2. Division of Infectious Diseases, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Elisabeth Grohmann

Authors
  1. Ankita Vaishampayan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Elisabeth Grohmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elisabeth Grohmann.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Vaishampayan, A., Grohmann, E. Multi-resistant biofilm-forming pathogens on the International Space Station. J Biosci 44, 125 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12038-019-9929-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12038-019-9929-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation