Microbiome in a ground-based analog cabin of China Space Station during a 50-day human occupation

Abstract

Dead-corner areas in space station that untouched by the clean-up campaign often experience microorganisms outbreaks, but the microbiome of these areas has never been studied. In this study, the microbiome in a ground-based analog “Tianhe” core module of China Space Station (CSS) was first investigated during a 50-day three-crew occupation. Dead-corner areas were receiving attention by adopting a new sampling method. Results indicate that the astronauts occupation did not affect the dominant bacteria community, but affected a small proportion. Due to the frequent activity of astronauts in the work and sleep areas, the biomarkers in these two areas are common human skin surface and gut microorganisms, respectively. For areas that astronauts rarely visit, the biomarkers in which are common environmental microbial groups. Fluorescence counting showed that 70.12–84.78% of bacteria were alive，with a quantity of 104–105 cells/100 cm2. With the occupation time extension, the number of microorganisms increased. At the same sampling time, there was no significant bioburden difference in various locations. The cultivable bioburden ranged from 101 to 104 CFU/100 cm2, which are the following 8 genera Penicillium, Microsphaeropsis, Stachybotrys, Humicola, Cladosporium, Bacillus, Planomicrobium and Acinetobacter. Chryseomicrobium genus may be a key focus for future microbial prevention and control work.