Inferior microorganisms within sealed soil mini-ecosystems thrived through short-duration spaceflight by protective and progressive activities
Microbial communities collectively adapt to the extreme environment of space by means of distinguished activities. Knowledge has been gained from extensive investigations of spaceflight microbiota-associated communities. Space-based study of the broader terrestrial microbial communities enables further advancement of astro-microbiology and biotechnological applications, particularly the hastened responses to short-duration spaceflight. In this study, microorganisms of 16 soil samples in sealed mini-ecosystems flown onboard the 14.5-day Shijian-19 returnable satellite were studied together with matched ground controls. Through this spaceflight, most top ground abundant microorganisms (GAMs) remained fairly stationary with moderate variations. Some non-active GAMs became hyperactive by the protective stress-response activities. Some ground rare microorganisms (GRMs) thrived and rose to the abudant ranks by the progressive growth and competition promoting activities. Some spaceflight significantly-elevated GAMs and GRMs are phylogenetically scattered and clustered respectively. Our investigations revealed the novel activities and mechanisms of soil microoragnisms in hastened responses to the stressful spaceflight enviroment.