Altered quorum sensing and physiology of Staphylococcus aureus during spaceflight detected by multi-omics data analysis

This research study, conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS), investigates how a common bacterium called Staphylococcus aureus behaves in space-a microbe known for causing serious and sometimes deadly infections on Earth. The scientists wanted to understand if being in space could make this germ even more dangerous, especially since it's already tough enough to fight off with antibiotics due to its resistance against many of them. To find out how the bacteria might change up there without gravity and under different conditions compared to Earth, researchers took samples from Petri dishes where S. aureus had been growing on ISS for 10 days straight-a total experiment time that's about as long as one astronaut spends in space during their six-month mission. After the bacteria were brought back to Earth, scientists used advanced techniques like RNA analysis (RNA-Seq), protein examination (proteomics), secretion study (secretomics), and metabolite profiling (metabolomics) on these samples in order to see what changes had occurred.

In the study conducted by M.R. Hauserman and colleagues, published as part of a collaborative effort with NASA's Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University in npj Microgravity (2024), an extensive analysis was performed on RNA-Seq, proteomics, secretomics, and metabolomics data to understand the behavior of Staphylococcus aureus strain UAMS-1 under microgravity conditions. The research aimed at elucidating how this notorious pathogen adapts in spaceflight environments which could have significant implications for astronaut health during long-duration missions and potential applications on Earth, particularly concerning antibiotic resistance mechanisms of MRSA strains. The experimental design involved the launching of two Biological Research In Space (BRIC)-PDFUs to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX CRS-9 cargo resupply mission in July 2016, with each PDFU containing five Petri dishes seeded with S. aureus UAMS-1 cells and subsequently incubated for growth onboard ISS.