10.15140/WWXQ-M629
Eisen, Jonathan
UC Davis
Coil, David
UC Davis
Lang, Jenna
UC Davis
A microbial survey of the International Space Station (ISS)
UC Davis
2017
2017-12-11T00:11:32Z
en
dataset
422316508 bytes
2
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Background Modern advances in sequencing technology have enabled the
census of microbial members of many natural ecosystems. Recently,
attention is increasingly being paid to the microbial residents of
human-made, built ecosystems, both private (homes) and public (subways,
office buildings, and hospitals). Here, we report results of the
characterization of the microbial ecology of a singular built environment,
the International Space Station (ISS). This ISS sampling involved the
collection and microbial analysis (via 16S rDNA PCR) of 15 surfaces
sampled by swabs onboard the ISS. This sampling was a component of Project
MERCCURI (Microbial Ecology Research Combining Citizen and University
Researchers on ISS). Learning more about the microbial inhabitants of the
“buildings” in which we travel through space will take on increasing
importance, as plans for human exploration continue, with the possibility
of colonization of other planets and moons. Results Sterile swabs were
used to sample 15 surfaces onboard the ISS. The sites sampled were
designed to be analogous to samples collected for (1) the Wildlife of Our
Homes project and (2) a study of cell phones and shoes that were
concurrently being collected for another component of Project MERCCURI.
Sequencing of the 16S rDNA genes amplified from DNA extracted from each
swab was used to produce a census of the microbes present on each surface
sampled. We compared the microbes found on the ISS swabs to those from
both homes on Earth and data from the Human Microbiome Project.
Conclusions While significantly different from homes on Earth and the
Human Microbiome Project samples analyzed here, the microbial community
composition on the ISS was more similar to home surfaces than to the human
microbiome samples. The ISS surfaces are species-rich with 1,036–4,294
operational taxonomic units (OTUs per sample). There was no discernible
biogeography of microbes on the 15 ISS surfaces, although this may be a
reflection of the small sample size we were able to obtain.