New PreMiEr Publication: How Bacteria Evolve in Space-Like Environments
A new PreMiEr study finds that the oral bacterium Streptococcus mutans evolves in dramatically different ways under space-like conditions, with findings relevant to microbial control in spacecraft and other closed environments.
A new study co-authored by PreMiEr researcher Joseph L. Graves Jr. finds that the oral bacterium Streptococcus mutans adapts in strikingly different ways depending on the stresses it faces in space-like conditions. Researchers exposed evolving bacterial populations to simulated microgravity alone, or to microgravity combined with silver stress, over 100 days. Bacteria under microgravity alone showed unpredictable changes in metabolism and stress responses, while those facing both stressors evolved more consistently, developing coordinated defenses against oxidative and metal stress. The findings, published in npj Complex Systems, have implications for controlling microbial threats in spacecraft, built environments, and other closed habitats, and underscore the need for multi-level data to understand how microbes evolve under extreme conditions.
Read more here: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44260-025-00068-6