Scientists study Salmonella in space

Phoenix -- U.S. scientists will use experiments on the space shuttle Endeavor to determine why bacteria in space are more likely to cause disease.

An experiment designed by Arizona State University Professor Cheryl Nickerson that flew aboard space shuttle Atlantis last fall showed microbes in space are nearly three times more likely to cause disease than the same microbes on Earth.

Nickerson and other scientists now have experiments on Endeavor designed to replicate those results, examine how space affects other bacteria and test a way to counteract the space-induced increase in disease-causing potential.

Last autumn, Nickerson and her team discovered space changed the way 167 genes were expressed in the bacteria Salmonella, a cause of food-borne illnesses, making the bacteria better able to infect people. She and her team will now test a way to eliminate or decrease the infectious risk to astronauts.

In addition to Nickerson's experiments, three investigators from the University of Texas and Montana State University will examine the effects of spaceflight on Streptococcus pneumoniae, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. All three organisms cause human illnesses, and have been shown to exhibit altered virulence in response to spaceflight.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.