[Effect of space flight conditions on properties of hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacteria].
Results of experiments on the Mir space station (EO-25 and EO-26) demonstrated that the conditions of orbital flight, primarily the cosmic radiation, was a mutagenic factor affecting both the genotype and phenotype of an oil-oxidizing bacterial strain, Mycobacterium flavescens EX-91. The emerging mutants differed from original culture by the rate of colony growth and the ability to ferment certain carbohydrates or synthesize beta-galactosidase. Changes in the rate of utilization of raw oil and individual hydrocarbon types (constituting model mixtures) suggest that cosmic radiation may serve as a means of obtaining mutant clones of microorganisms with new properties.
Ermolenko
Z M
ZM
State Research Center of Applied Microbiology, Obolensk, Moscow oblast, 142279 Russia.
Martovetskaia
V A
VA
Chugunov
V A
VA
Kholodenko
V P
VP
D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D005285:Fermentation; D005838:Genotype; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism*; D009154:Mutation; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D010641:Phenotype; D013026:Space Flight; D001617:beta-Glucosidase / Q000096:biosynthesis
D006838:Hydrocarbons; D001617:beta-Glucosidase