Bacillus safensis
| Bacillus safensis | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Bacteria |
| Division: | Firmicutes |
| Class: | Bacilli |
| Order: | Bacillales |
| Family: | Bacillaceae |
| Genus: | Bacillus |
| Species: | B. safensis |
| Binomial name | |
|
Bacillus safensis Satomi et al. 2006 |
|
Bacillus safensis is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, and rod bacterium, originally isolated from a spacecraft in Florida and California.Bacillus safensis could have possibly been transported to the planet Mars on spacecraft Opportunity and Spirit in 2004. There are several known strains of this bacterium, all of which belong to the Firmicutes phylum of Bacteria. This bacterium also belongs to the large, pervasive genus Bacillus. Bacillus safensis is an aerobic chemoheterotroph and is highly resistant to salt,UV radiation, and gamma radiation.Bacillus safensis affects plant growth, since it is a powerful plant hormone producer, and it also acts as a plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, enhancing plant growth after root colonization. Strain B. safensis JPL-MERTA-8-2 is (so far) the only bacterial strain shown to grow noticeably faster in micro-gravity environments than on the Earth surface.
Thirteen strains of the novel bacterium Bacillus safensis were first isolated from spacecraft surfaces and assembly-facility surfaces at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as well as the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. The bacterium gets its name from the Spacecraft Assembly Facility (SAF). Researchers used customary swabbing techniques to detect and collect the bacteria from cleanrooms where the spacecraft were put together in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The bacterium was accidentally brought to Mars during space travel missions due to contamination of clean rooms. Contamination of clean rooms during space travel is an area of concern as it can threaten microbial experimentation and give false positives of other microbial life forms on other planets.
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Wikipedia