Rotifers In Space: Transcriptomic Response Of The Bdelloid Rotifer Adineta vaga Aboard The International Space Station

This study analyzes the transcriptomic changes experienced by Adineta vaga, a bdelloid rotifer aboard the International Space Station (ISS), using RNA sequencing.

The aim was to investigate the overall effect of spaceflight in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) on these organisms. To this end, new hardware was developed to enable autonomous culturing of rotifers with minimal astronaut intervention.

The study revealed significant transcriptomic changes, with 18.61% of genes showing differential expression in response to microgravity and radiation. These changes included upregulation of genes involved in protein synthesis, RNA metabolic processes, and DNA repair.

Notably, the study also found a significant enrichment of foreign genes (Horizontal Gene Transfers: HGTs) among the genes that were either over- or under-expressed during spaceflight, suggesting that HGTs play a role in bdelloids’ adaptability to new and potentially atypical environments.

The Rotifer-B2 investigation aims to explore the effects that spaceflight has on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) repair mechanisms of the bdelloid rotifer Adineta vaga. Image courtesy of the University of Namur. Larger image

A Assembled Hardware with a transparent view illustrating the internal hardware frame and culture bag. On the top, iButton is visualized as purple ring. Photo credits: Kayser Italia B) View of the culture bag loaded inside the internal frame of hardware. Each bag contains 10,000 A. vaga individuals. Photo credits: Marc Guillaume. C ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano handling the experiment on board the ISS. Photo credits: ESA. D Operational Timeline and Procedures for the experiment. Similar timeline and temperature were achieved for space and ground samples — ESA

Rotifers in space: transcriptomic response of the bdelloid rotifer Adineta vaga aboard the International Space Station, BMC Biology (open access)

Offworld Biology: Rotifer-B2 Preflight Imagery, earlier post

Astrobiology,