Experiments with microbial biofilms in microgravity and simulated microgravity have revealed altered growth kinetics, but geomicrobial biofilms have not yet been studied in low gravity environments. No characterisation of biofilms, geomicrobial or otherwise, have been conducted at hypergravity. This thesis explores factors affecting microbe-mineral interactions under terrestrial conditions, lays the groundwork for a scheduled microgravity experiment, and provides the first data on biofilms grown at hypergravity. As a first step in understanding microbe-mineral interactions in altered gravity environments, experiments were undertaken to identify factors that constrain attachment in a terrestrial environment. The model organism Sphingomonas desiccabilis and basaltic rock from Iceland were selected, and the minerals that make up the basalt were identified and procured in their pure form. The relative significance of physical factors such as hydrophobicity, surface charge, porosity and nutritional value were examined in relationship to the success with which biofilms colonised the mineral surfaces. Growth was measured by the quantity of biofilm biomass after a ifxed time period, using Crystal Violet stain, in order to draw conclusions about the most influential physical conditions on biofilm attachment to a substrate. It was found that mineral attachment is influenced more by porosity and nutritional value than by hydrophobicity or surface charge. To explore how reduced gravity affects biofilm formation and weathering rates, a European Space Agency experiment, BioRock, is underway. Samples of basalt, with monocultures of three different organisms, will be sent to the International Space Station in 2019 for long-term exposure to Martian and micro-gravity. Research testing proof of concepts, material compatibility, and experimental procedure and equipment is described. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) was used to image the biofilms, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) experiments were conducted to compare biotic and abiotic elemental release rates from basalt. Both of these methods will be employed for post-flight analysis of BioRock. Preliminary terrestrial ICP-MS experiments indicated that rare Earth elements (REEs) showed the most reliable reflection of leaching patterns overall, as a consequence of their high molecular weight and low volatility during the ashing procedure. To fully understand gravity's effect on microbiological processes it is important to investigate what occurs when its influences are removed, but also to establish what occurs when extra gravitational force is applied. Using simulated hypergravity, achieved through hyper-acceleration on a geotechnical centrifuge, the effects of 10 x g on biofilm development and the leaching of basalt were investigated. As this was the first time that biofilms had been studied under hypergravity, additional substrates were included with the basalt, to enable characterisation of the more general response of biofilms to hypergravity. In contrast to previous experiments conducted on planktonic bacteria, which found decreased population sizes, the biofilms grown at 10 x g showed greater biomass than the 1 x g samples. ICP-MS showed no difference in the average weathering rates, but greater variability in the higher gravity samples. The data collected here advances our understanding of microbial interactions with geologically important substrates, with implications for an ISS microgravity experiment and future human space exploration. It also presents new intelligence on the previously unstudied effects of hypergravity on biofilms and rock weathering.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:764071 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Nicholson, Natasha Elizabeth |
| Contributors | Cockell, Charles ; Clegg, Paul |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/33256 |
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