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| ISSO Y2004 Annual Report | Contents The Effect of
Modeled Microgravity on Microbial Gene Expression / 46-49 Abstract--The space environment is characterized by microgravity and high background radiation. The absence of gravity produces low shear environments, which likely result in microorganisms having difficulty in removing themselves from immediate surroundings that have been nutrient depleted and which have received waste products. In order to adapt to life in a low shear world, bacteria likely express different combinations of genes than they do in more usual laboratory environments and may ultimately make evolutionary adaptations as well. Thus, a particular bacterium may exhibit properties such as antibiotic resistance, biofilm formation, or virulence that are not generally associated with it. For example, recent evidence indicates increased Salmonella virulence in response to modeled microgravity. Changes in physiology, gene transcription and regulation are being examined in Escherichia coli cells grown in the low-shear modeled microgravity environment (LSMMG) found in a high aspect rotating vessel (HARV).
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