Strains of the bacterium Enterobacter, similar to newly found opportunistic infectious organisms seen in a few hospital settings, have been identified on the International Space Station (ISS). The strains found in space were not pathogenic to humans, but researchers believe they should be studied for potential health implications for future missions, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Microbiology.
最近发表在开放获取期刊《BMC微生物学》（BMC Microbiology）上的一项研究显示，科学家们已确认在国际空间站内发现了一些肠杆菌（Enterobacter）的菌株，这些细菌与最近在一些医院中发现的机会性传染性病菌相似。太空中发现的这些菌株对人类而言并非致病菌，但研究者们认为应该研究它们对未来的航天任务可能造成的健康影响。
Researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, USA investigated five strains of Enterobacter that were isolated from the space toilet and the exercise platform on the ISS in March 2015 as part of a wider effort to characterize the bacterial communities that live on surfaces inside the space station. To identify the species of Enterobacter collected on the ISS and to show in detail the genetic make-up of the individual strains, the researchers compared the ISS strains to all publicly available genomes of 1,291 Enterobacter strains collected on Earth.
美国加州理工学院喷气推进实验室的研究人员研究了2015年3月从国际空间站的马桶和运动台上收集分离的5个肠杆菌菌株，此举是为了更好地鉴定空间站内各种表面上存在的细菌群落。为了确认空间站内肠杆菌的品种、详细展示每一品种的基因组成，研究人员将国际空间站内的菌株与地球上收集到的所有1291种肠杆菌的公开基因组信息进行了对比。
Dr Kasthuri Venkateswaran, Senior Research Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group and the corresponding author of the study said: “To show which species of the bacteria were present on the ISS, we used various methods to characterize their genomes in detail. We revealed that genomes of the five ISS Enterobacter strains were genetically most similar to three strains newly found on Earth. These three strains belonged to one species of the bacteria, called Enterobacter bugandensis, which had been found to cause disease in neonates and a compromised patient, who were admitted to three different hospitals (in east Africa, Washington state and Colorado).”
喷气推进实验室生物技术和行星保护小组的高级研究科学家Kasthuri Venkateswaran博士说：“为了鉴别出国际空间站上的细菌是哪些品种，我们使用了多种办法来详细鉴定它们的基因组。我们发现5种国际空间内的肠杆菌菌株与新近在地球上发现的3种菌株在基因组成上最为相似。这3种菌株均属同一品种的细菌Enterobacter bugandensis，这种细菌会导致新生儿和缺乏抵抗力的病人患病，病例曾出现在3个不同的医院（分别位于东非、华盛顿州和科罗拉多州）。”
Comparing the genomes of the five ISS strains to the three clinical Earth strains allowed the authors to get a better understanding of whether the ISS strains showed characteristics of antimicrobial resistance, if they had gene profiles similar to those found in known multi-drug resistant bacteria, and to identify genes related to their ability to cause disease (pathogenic potential).
将5种国际空间站菌株的基因组和3种临床发现的地球菌株进行比较，可以让作者们更好地了解国际空间站菌株的耐药特性——它们是否与已知的多药耐药性细菌拥有相似的基因特征，并找出与它们的致病潜力相关的基因。
Dr. Nitin Singh, first author of the publication said: “Given the multi-drug resistance results for these ISS E. bugandensis genomes and the increased chance of pathogenicity we have identified, these species potentially pose important health considerations for future missions. However, it is important to understand that the strains found on the ISS were not virulent, which means they are not an active threat to human health, but something to be monitored.”
研究的第一作者Nitin Singh博士说：“鉴于这些空间站的E. bugandensis细菌的基因组中发现的多药耐药性结果和我们已经确认的致病性升高的概率，这些细菌可能对未来的任务有重要的健康影响。不过很重要的一点是，在国际空间站上发现的细菌菌株都是无毒的，这意味着它们不会给人类健康带来主动威胁，但应该被监测起来。”
The authors found that the ISS isolates had similar antimicrobial resistance patterns to the three clinical strains found on Earth and that they included 112 genes involved in virulence, disease and defense. While the ISS E. bugandensis strains were not pathogenic to humans, the authors predicted via computer analyses, a 79% probability that they may potentially cause disease. However, analyses in living organisms should be carried out to confirm this.
作者们发现国际空间站中分离出的菌株与地球上医院中的3个细菌菌株有相似的耐药性模式，他们研究了112个参与决定毒性、疾病和防御的基因。虽然国际空间站上的E. bugandensis对人类不具有致病性，但作者们通过电脑分析预测它们致病的潜在可能性为79%。不过还需要以生物体为对象进行分析来进一步确认这一点。
Dr Venkateswaran said: “Whether or not an opportunistic pathogen like E. bugandensis causes disease and how much of a threat it is, depends on a variety of factors, including environmental ones. Further in vivo studies are needed to discern the impact that conditions on the ISS, such as microgravity, other space, and spacecraft-related factors, may have on pathogenicity and virulence.”
Venkateswaran博士说：“像E. bugandensis这样的机会性病原体是否会导致疾病以及它能造成多大的威胁，与很多因素有关，其中也包括环境因素。我们还需要进一步的体内研究来鉴别空间站上的条件——如微重力、外太空和飞船相关的因素——可能会给致病性和毒性带来怎样的影响。”
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Notes to editor附注:
1. Research article原文:
Multi-drug resistant Enterobacter bugandensis species isolated from the International Space Station and comparative genomic analyses with human pathogenic strains
BMC Microbiology 2018
DOI: 10.1186/s12866-018-1325-2
After the embargo lifts, the article will be available here:
限制令解除后，原文链接如下：
https://bmcmicrobiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12866-018-1325-2
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BMC's open access policy.
报道时请提及期刊名称。如果您是为网站写作稿件，请附上原文链接。由于BMC的开放获取政策，本刊所有文章都可以免费阅读。
2. BMC Microbiology is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on analytical and functional studies of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms, viruses and small parasites, as well as host and therapeutic responses to them and their interaction with the environment.
《BMC微生物学》（BMC Microbiology）是一本开放获取的同行评议期刊，期刊会考虑接收与原核及真核微生物、病毒和小型寄生虫相关的分析与功能性研究，以及针对这些生物的宿主反应、治疗反应以及它们与环境互动的研究。
3. A pioneer of open access publishing, BMC has an evolving portfolio of high quality peer-reviewed journals including broad interest titles such as BMC Biology and BMC Medicine, specialist journals such as Malaria Journal and Microbiome, and the BMC series. At BMC, research is always in progress. We are committed to continual innovation to better support the needs of our communities, ensuring the integrity of the research we publish, and championing the benefits of open research. BMC is part of Springer Nature, giving us greater opportunities to help authors connect and advance discoveries across the world.
BMC作为开放获取出版的先锋，不断推出一系列高质量的同行评议期刊，这包括了BMC Biology 和BMC Medicine等涵盖范围较广的期刊，以及Malaria Journal、Microbiome和BMC系列期刊等专门刊物。BMC认为，科研永不止步。因此，我们致力于不断创新，以更好地满足科学共同体的需要，确保所发表的科研成果的完整性，并推广开放研究的益处。BMC是施普林格∙自然旗下机构，这让我们更有机会帮助世界各地的作者相互沟通并促进科学发现。
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Journal
BMC Microbiology