title: Results of the Bacillus subtilis unit of the Biostack II experiment: physical characteristics and biological effects of individual cosmic HZE particles.
abstract: The effectiveness of cosmic HZE-particles on unicellular procaryotic, organisms was studied on Bacillus subtilis spores, which were accommodated in the Biostack I and II experiments on board Apollo 16 and 17. Identification of the spores that were hit was achieved by using the Biostack sandwich construction and by precise microscopical measurements of tracks of particles. Germination, outgrowth and the rate of cellular elongation were investigated. A method was developed to determine the charge of each individual HZE particle that penetrated a spore and its energy loss in the region of hit. An attempt was made to establish a connection between these physical characteristics and the biological effects produced.
authors.affiliation: Arbeitsgruppe fur biophysikalische Weltraumforschung, Universitat Frankfurt, Frankfurt (Main) FRG.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bucker
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Facius
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hildebrand
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Horneck
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D003359:Cosmic Radiation; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation; D011874:Radiometry; D012062:Relative Biological Effectiveness; D013026:Space Flight; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000254:growth & development / Q000528:radiation effects; D014893:Weightlessness