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Abstract
Results of experiments on the Mir space station (EO-25 and EO-26) demonstrated that
the conditions of orbital flight, primarily the cosmic radiation, was a mutagenic factor
affecting both the genotype and phenotype of an oil-oxidizing bacterial strain, Mycobacterium
flavescens EX-91. The emerging mutants differed from original culture by the rate of colony
growth and the ability to ferment certain carbohydrates or synthesize beta-galactosidase.
Changes in the rate of utilization of raw oil and individual hydrocarbon types (constituting
model mixtures) suggest that cosmic radiation may serve as a means of obtaining mutant clones
of microorganisms with new properties. |
