title: The First Space-Related Study of a Kombucha Multimicrobial Cellulose-Forming Community: Preparatory Laboratory Experiments.
abstract: Biofilm-forming microbial communities are known as the most robust assemblages that can survive in harsh environments. Biofilm-associated microorganisms display greatly increased resistance to physical and chemical adverse conditions, and they are expected to be the first form of life on Earth or anywhere else. Biological molecules synthesized by biofilm -protected microbiomes may serve as markers of the nucleoprotein life. We offer a new experimental model, a kombucha multimicrobial culture (KMC), to assess a structural integrity of a widespread microbial polymer - cellulose - as a biosignature of bacteria-producers for the multipurpose international project "BIOlogical and Mars Experiment (BIOMEX)", which aims to study the vitality of pro- and eukaryotic organisms and the stability of organic biomolecules in contact with minerals to analyze the detectability of life markers in the context of a planetary background. In this study, we aimed to substantiate the detectability of mineralized cellulose with spectroscopy and to study the KMC macrocolony phenotype stability under adverse conditions (UV, excess of inorganics etc.). Cellulose matrix of the KMC macrocolony has been mineralized in the mineral-water interface under assistance of KMC-members. Effect of bioleached ions on the cellulose matrix has been visible, and the FT-IR spectrum proved changes in cellulose structure. However, the specific cellulose band vibration, confirming the presence of β(1,4)-linkages between monomers, has not been quenched by secondary minerals formed on the surface of pellicle. The cellulose-based KMC macrocolony phenotype was in a dependence on extracellular matrix components (ionome, viriome, extracellular membrane vesicles), which provided its integrity and rigidness in a certain extent under impact of stressful factors.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of NASU, Acad. Zabolotnoho str., 150, 03680, Kyiv, Ukraine. podololga@ukr.net.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Podolich
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of NASU, Acad. Zabolotnoho str., 150, 03680, Kyiv, Ukraine.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zaets
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of NASU, Acad. Zabolotnoho str., 150, 03680, Kyiv, Ukraine.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kukharenko
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of NASU, Acad. Zabolotnoho str., 150, 03680, Kyiv, Ukraine.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Orlovska
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Unit, Department of Biochemistry, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Reva
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics of NASU, Kyiv, Ukraine.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Khirunenko
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics of NASU, Kyiv, Ukraine.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sosnin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, Kyiv, Ukraine.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haidak
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of NASU, Acad. Zabolotnoho str., 150, 03680, Kyiv, Ukraine.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shpylova
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics of NASU, Kyiv, Ukraine.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rohutskyy
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, Kyiv, Ukraine.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kharina
authors.affiliation: NanoTechMed LLC, Kyiv, Ukraine.
authors.forename: М
authors.initials: М
authors.lastname: Skoryk
authors.affiliation: NanoTechMed LLC, Kyiv, Ukraine.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kremenskoy
authors.affiliation: Institute of Botany of NASU, Kyiv, Ukraine.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Klymchuk
authors.affiliation: ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Demets
authors.affiliation: German Aerospace Center (DLR) Berlin, Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: J-P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: de Vera
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics of NASU, Acad. Zabolotnoho str., 150, 03680, Kyiv, Ukraine.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kozyrovska
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria; D018441:Biofilms; D002482:Cellulose; D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment; D064307:Microbiota; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
chemical_list: D002482:Cellulose
keywords: Bacterial cellulose; Biofilm; Biology and Mars Experiments (BIOMEX); Biosignature; Kombucha