Selection of Anabaena sp. PCC 7938 as a Cyanobacterium Model for Biological ISRU on Mars

Crewed missions to Mars are expected to take place in the coming decades. After short-term stays, a permanent presence will be desirable to enable a wealth of scientific discoveries. This will require providing crews with life-support consumables in amounts that are too large to be imported from Ear...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied and environmental microbiology 2022-08, Vol.88 (15), p.e0059422
Main Authors: Ramalho, Tiago P, Chopin, Guillaume, Pérez-Carrascal, Olga M, Tromas, Nicolas, Verseux, Cyprien
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anabaena
Anabaena - genetics
Applied and Industrial Microbiology
Biotechnology
Cyanobacteria
Cyanobacteria - genetics
Extraterrestrial Environment
Gene sequencing
Heterotrophic Processes
In situ resources utilization
Mars
Mars missions
Mars surface
Natural resources
Nutrients
Perchlorates
Raw materials
Regolith
Spotlight Selection
Strains (organisms)
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Summary:Crewed missions to Mars are expected to take place in the coming decades. After short-term stays, a permanent presence will be desirable to enable a wealth of scientific discoveries. This will require providing crews with life-support consumables in amounts that are too large to be imported from Earth. Part of these consumables could be produced on site with bioprocesses, but the feedstock should not have to be imported. A solution under consideration lies in using diazotrophic, rock-weathering cyanobacteria as primary producers: fed with materials naturally available on site, they would provide the nutrients required by other organisms. This concept has recently gained momentum but progress is slowed by a lack of consistency across contributing teams, and notably of a shared model organism. With the hope to address this issue, we present the work performed to select our current model. We started with preselected strains from the family. After sequencing the genome of sp. PCC 7938-the only one not yet available-we compared the strains' genomic data to determine their relatedness and provide insights into their physiology. We then assessed and compared relevant features: chiefly, their abilities to utilize nutrients from Martian regolith, their resistance to perchlorates (toxic compounds present in the regolith), and their suitability as feedstock for secondary producers (here a heterotrophic bacterium and a higher plant). This led to the selection of sp. PCC 7938, which we propose as a model cyanobacterium for the development of bioprocesses based on Mars's natural resources. The sustainability of crewed missions to Mars could be increased by biotechnologies which are connected to resources available on site via primary producers: diazotrophic, rock-leaching cyanobacteria. Indeed, this could greatly reduce the mass of payloads to be imported from Earth. The concept is gaining momentum but progress is hindered by a lack of consistency across research teams. We consequently describe the selection process that led to the choice of our model strain, demonstrate its relevance to the field, and propose it as a shared model organism. We expect this contribution to support the development of cyanobacterium-based biotechnologies on Mars.
ISSN:0099-2240
1098-5336
DOI:10.1128/aem.00594-22