Fungi in space: Implications for astronaut health and planetary protection

Aspergillus and Penicillium were the predominant fungal genera detected aboard the Russian Space Station (Mir) as well as the International Space Station (ISS), and fungal growth has been shown to promote biodegradation of spacecraft materials which might compromise life-support systems. Moreover, as spore formers, filamentous fungi are a threat to astronauts’ health, and their resistant spores may pose a threat to planetary protection. These traits together with the ability to form biofilms, makes monitoring and controlling fungal populations a challenge when it comes to current and future space missions. In my PhD thesis I am looking to answer three main questions i) how do filamentous fungi growth and adapt to microgravity? ii) how do fungal spores resist to space radiation? and iii) what is the potential of filamentous fungi for space biotechnology?

Aspergillus niger colony morphology and sporulation were studied after growth in the clinostat, and Penicillium rubens growth, gene expression and biofilm formation in real microgravity will be studied in the project “Biofilm in Space (BFS)” - with the spaceflight experiment aboard the ISS planned to be launched mid 2019. Moreover, studies on the resistance of A. niger towards space radiation have indicated high spore resistance to X-rays. Overall this work marks an important step in the establishment of new methodologies to study filamentous fungi under simulated and real space conditions.