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Yeast-Group Activation Packs (Yeast-GAP)
07.31.09

Overview | Description | Applications | Operations | Results | Publications | Images

Experiment/Payload Overview

Brief Summary

Yeast-GAP studies the effects of genetic changes of yeast cells exposed to the space environment. The results will help scientists to understand how cells respond to radiation and microgravity, will impact the determination of health remedies and will increase the basic understanding of cell biology.

Principal Investigator

  • Cheryl A. Nickerson, Ph.D., Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

    • Co-Investigator(s)/Collaborator(s)

    Information Pending

    Payload Developer

    BioServe Space Technologies, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

    Sponsoring Agency

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

    Expeditions Assigned

    |8|13|

    Previous ISS Missions

    Experiments focusing on how microorganisms react to microgravity began with NASA's Biosatellite program in the 1960s and have continued to play an integral part in NASA's research program.

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    Experiment/Payload Description

    Research Summary

    • Brewer's Yeast is comparable to mammalian cells in structure and is used to understand how mammalian cells may behave in the presence or absence of gravity.


    • Growth of yeast cells on ISS allows scientists to study the genetic effects of microgravity on cell growth.


    • This research may lead to advancements in biological, medical and pharmaceutical sciences.

    Description

    This experiment was designed to study how individual genes respond to microgravity conditions. To achieve this, scientists studied yeast cells, eukaryotic cells, or cells that contain a distinct nucleus bound by a cell membrane. Mammalian cells have a similar eukaryotic structure, and the results of this experiment could aid in understanding more complex mammalian cell response to microgravity. Yeast cells are far simpler than mammalian cells because they have a well-characterized, much smaller genome. This makes it easier for scientists to study how microgravity alters the makeup of the cells and their potential function.

    Yeast is an ideal candidate for such a study because it is hardy enough to resist the rigors of flight, requires no refrigeration, and poses little risk to ISS crewmembers. The experiment used genetically engineered cells of brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and a special cell growth chamber called a group activation pack (GAP) developed by BioServe Space Technologies. The goal is to identify the precise genes of yeast that are affected by growth in microgravity to understand differences in the growth of yeast cells in space and on Earth.

    Due to upmass limitations following the Columbia accident in 2003, Yeast-GAP was separated into two phases. Two GAPs were flown to ISS on 13 Progress and operated during ISS Expedition 8. The remaining two GAPs, Yeast-GAP-2, are identical to the first Yeast-GAP investigation were flown as a Sortie investigation on STS-115/12A during ISS Expedition 13.

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    Applications

    Space Applications

    Understanding how microbes reproduce and mutate in space may lead to the development of additional countermeasures to protect crewmembers on future long duration missions.

    Earth Applications

    Any insight into the genetic controls of a single-celled organism like yeast or certain bacteria can yield tremendous benefits on Earth, including increased antibiotic production as well as further insight into general cell biology. Research, such as Yeast-GAP, can lead to further developments in cancer research.

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    Operations

    Operational Requirements

    Crewmembers activated the yeast samples by inserting a crank into the GAP and turning the handle then deactivating after 30 minutes. There were a total of thirty-two FPAs contained with in four GAPs. The yeast samples were returned to scientists on Earth for detailed analysis.

    Operational Protocols

    Crewmembers activated Yeast-GAP by inserting a crank into each of the GAPs. Once the crank was turned, this allowed the nutritious medium to be introduced to the dominant yeast. Once activated the yeast was allowed to reproduce for 30 minutes or 5 generations. After the 30 minutes, the experiment was deactivated by crewmembers using the crank. Once the handle of cranked, a fixative solution was introduced to the yeast and they were held in stasis for the return to Earth.

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    Results/More Information

    Yeast-GAP samples, flown on 13 Progress were returned on space shuttle flight STS-114/LF1 in August 2005. Samples on board STS-115/12 were returned in September 2006. Analysis of the samples is ongoing.

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    Related Web Sites
  • NASA Fact Sheet
  • Planetary Times
  • Science @ NASA
  • Bioserve

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    Publications

    Results Publications

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      Related Publications
      • Nickerson CA, Ott CM, Mister SJ, Morrow BJ, Burns-Keliher L, Pierson DL. Microgravity as a Novel Environmental Signal Affecting Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Virulence. Infection and Immunity. ;68(6):3147-3152. 2000
      • Nickerson CA, Ott CM, Wilson JW, Ramamurthy R, LeBlanc CL, Honer zu Bentrup K, Hammond T, Pierson DL. Low-shear modeled microgravity: a global environmental regulatory signal affecting bacterial gene expression, physiology, and pathogenesis. Journal of Microbiological Methods. ;54:1-11. 2003
      • Johanson K, Allen PL, Lewis F, Cubano LA, Hyman LE, Hammond TG. Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene expression changes during rotating wall vessel suspension culture. Journal of Applied Physiology. ;93:2171-2180. 2002
      • Nickerson CA, Ott CM, Wilson JW, Ramamurthy R, Pierson DL. Microbial Responses to Microgravity and Other Low-Shear Environments. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. ;68(2):345-361. 2004
      • Wilson J, Ramamurthy R, Porwollik S, McClelland M, Hammond T, Allen P, Ott CM, Pierson DL, Nickerson CA. Microarray Analysis Identifies Salmonella Genes--Belonging to Low-Shear Modeled Microgravity Regulon. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. ;99(21):13807-11382. 2002

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      Images

      imageNASA Image: ISS008E14397 - ISS Science Office, Mike Foale is holding the GAP for the Yeast-GAP experiment during Increment 8.
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      imageScanning electrograph image of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells grown on Earth.
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      imageScanning electrograph image of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells grown on the International Space Station.
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      Information Provided and Updated by the ISS Program Scientist's Office
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