PhD Defense | Tom Verbeelen | Transcriptomic response of a synthetic microbial community converting urea to nitrate under simulated space conditions

Transcriptomic response of a synthetic microbial community converting urea to nitrate under simulated space conditions

Sustaining astronauts with essential resources over extended missions is a key challenge of sustainable space exploration. Bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS), exemplified by the Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative (MELiSSA) project, offer a solution to recover nutrients from crew waste. This doctorate focused on Compartment III (CIII) of the MELiSSA loop, responsible for producing nitrate from urine and organic waste using a synthetic microbial community that can convert urea to nitrate in the scope of the “Urine Nitrification in Space (URINIS)” project.
This work investigates the effects of simulated space conditions on Comamonas testosteroni, Nitrosomonas europaea, and Nitrobacter winogradskyi through whole transcriptomic analysis. The impact of simulated microgravity and space-like ionizing radiation were investigated. This research marks a significant step towards understanding and addressing the complexities of microbial communities in space while highlighting potential challenges for nitrogen recovery in space. This work partly lays the foundation for the future URINIS spaceflight experiments and advancements in sustainable space exploration.

Promotor:

• Ramon GANIGUÉ (UGENT)

SCK CEN mentors:

• Felice Mastroleo
• Natalie Leys

Click here for a list of obtained PhD degrees.