Genomic response of the nematode Caenorhabditis elgans to spaceflight
Abstract
On Earth it is common practice to employ laboratory animals such as the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to help understand human health concerns Studies of model organisms in Earth orbit should similarly help understand and address the concerns associated with spaceflight The International Ceonorhabditis elegans Experiment FIRST ICE FIRST was carried out onboard the Dutch Taxiflight in April of 2004 by an international collaboration of laboratories in France Canada Japan and the United States Animals developed normally in flight and returned in good apparent health With the exception of a slight movement defect upon return to Earth no significant abnormalities were detected Work from Japan revealed that apoptosis proceeds normally and work from Canada revealed no significant increase in the rate of mutation in flight These results appear similar to what is observed for humans and suggest that C elegans can be used to study non-lethal responses to spaceflight and can possibly be developed as a biological sensor To further our understanding of C elegans response to spaceflight we examined the gene transcription response using a near full genome microarray analysis Here we will report the transcriptional response of C elegans to the 10 days in space This transcriptional response is consistent with the observed normal development apoptosis and DNA repair Additionally several genes that may be involved in the movement defect have been identified Our presentation will compare the genome response of three independent samples in which stress
- Publication:
-
36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2006
- Bibcode:
- 2006cosp...36.3218S