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By NASA
An electron microscopy images of multicellular magnetotactic bacteria that featured on the covers of the 2022 edition of The ISME Journal. The image was produced by Schaible and co-workers under the group’s NASA awards.Roland Hatzenpichler / Montana State University In a recent study, NASA-supported researchers gained new insight into the lives of bacteria that survive by grouping together as if they were a multi-cellular organism. The organisms in the study are the only bacteria known to do this in this way, and studying them could help astrobiologists explain important steps in the evolution of life on Earth.
The organisms in the study are known as ‘multicellular magnetotactic bacteria,’ or MMB. Being magnetotactic means that MMB are part of a select group of bacteria that orient their movement based on Earth’s magnetic field using tiny ‘compass needles’ in their cells. As if that wasn’t special enough, MMB also live bunched up in collections of cells that are considered by some scientists to exhibit ‘obligate’ multicellularity, which is the trait the new study is focused on.
In biology, obligate means that an organism requires something for survival. In this case, it means that single cells of MMB cannot survive on their own. Instead, cells live as a consortium of multiple cells that behave in many ways like a single multicellular organism. This requirement to live together means that when MMB reproduce, they do so by replicating all the cells in the consortium at once, doubling the total number of cells. This large group of cells then splits into two identical consortia.
Electron microscopy image and cartoon of a MMB consortium, highlighting its characteristics features that includes a hollow space at the center of the cell consortium.George Shaible et al. PLOS Biology 2024 MMB are the only example of bacteria that are known to live like this. Many other bacteria clump together as simple aggregates of single cells. For instance, cyanobacteria clump together in colonies and form structures like stromatolites or biofilms that are visible to the naked eye. However, unlike MMB, these cyanobacteria can also survive as single, individual cells.
In the new study, scientists have revealed even more complexity in the relationships between MMB cells. First, contrary to long-held assumptions, individual cells within MMB consortia are not genetically identical, they differ slightly in their genetic blueprint. Further, cells within a consortium exhibit different and complementary behavior in terms of their metabolism. Each cell in an MMB consortium has a role that contributes to the survival of the entire group. This behavior is similar to how individual cells within multicellular organisms behave. For example, human bodies are made up of tens of trillions of cells. These cells differentiate into specific cell types with different functions. Bone cells are not the same as blood cells. Fat cells that store energy are different from the nerve cells that store and transmit information. Each cell has a role to play, and together they make up a single living body.
The proposed life cycle of multicellular magnetotactic bacteria (MMB). Credit: George ShcaibleGeorge Schaible The evolution of multicellularity is one of the major transitions in the history life on our planet and had profound effects on Earth’s biosphere. In the wake of its appearance, life developed novel strategies for survival that led to entirely new ecosystems. As the only example of bacteria that exhibit obligate multicellularity, MMB provide an important example of possible mechanisms behind this profound step in life’s evolutionary history on Earth.
The study, “Multicellular magnetotactic bacteria are genetically heterogeneous consortia with metabolically differentiated cells,” was published in PLOS Biology. The work was supported through the NASA Exobiology program and the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) program.
For more information on NASA Astrobiology, visit:
https://astrobiology.nasa.gov
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Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
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202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
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By NASA
2 min read
Citizen Scientists Use NASA Open Science Data to Research Life in Space
2023 Workshop of Analysis Working Group members, Washington, D.C., November 14, 2023. Now, you are invited to join their quest to understand how life can thrive in deep space! Want to learn more first? Join our live virtual event April 17 at 3pm Eastern Time to hear an overview of the OSDR AWG’s operations. Photo: NASA OSDR Team How can life thrive in deep space? The Open Science Data Repository Analysis Working Groups invite volunteers from all backgrounds to help answer this question. Request to join these citizen science groups to help investigate how life adapts to space environments, exploring topics like radiation effects, microgravity’s impact on human and plant health, and how microbes change in orbit.
Currently, nine Analysis Working Groups (AWGs) hold monthly meetings to advance their specific focus areas. Participants collaborate using an online platform, the AWG “Forum-Space”, where they connect with peers and experts, join discussions, and contribute to over 20 active projects.
The AWGs work with data primarily from the NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR), a treasure trove of spaceflight data on physiology, molecular biology, bioimaging, and much more. For newcomers, there are tutorials and a comprehensive paper covering all aspects of the repository and the AWG community. You can explore 500+ studies, an omics multi-study visualization portal, the environmental data app, and RadLab, a portal for radiation telemetry data. (“Omics” refers to fields of biology that end in “omics,” like “genomics”.)
Each of the nine AWGs has a Lead who organizes their group and holds monthly virtual meetings. Once you join, make sure to connect with the Lead and get on the agenda so you can introduce yourself. Learn more about the AWGs here.
Have an idea for a new project? Propose a new project and help lead it! From data analysis and visualization to shaping data standards and conducting literature meta-analyses, there’s a place for everyone to contribute. Request to join, and together, we can address a great challenge for humanity: understanding and enabling life to thrive in deep space!
Want to learn more?
On April 17 at 3pm Eastern Time, the NASA Citizen Science Leaders Series is hosting an virtual event with Ryan Scott about these Analysis Working Groups and their work. Ryan is the Science Lead for the Ames Life Sciences Data Archive and the liaison between the Open Data Science Repository and the Analysis Working Groups. Click here to register for this event!
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Last Updated Apr 01, 2025 Related Terms
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By Space Force
Dr. Troy E. Meink appeard before the Senate Armed Services Committee for his nomination to be the next SecAF.
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By NASA
As part of NASA’s Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations flight tests in November 2024, Overwatch Aero flies a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft in Watsonville, California.Credit: NASA NASA will conduct a live flight test of aircraft performing simulated wildland fire response operations using a newly developed airspace management system at 9 a.m. PDT on Tuesday, March 25, in Salinas, California.
NASA’s new portable airspace management system, part of the agency’s Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) project, aims to significantly expand the window of time crews have to respond to wildland fires. The system provides the air traffic awareness needed to safely send aircraft – including drones and remotely piloted helicopters – into wildland fire operations, even during low-visibility conditions. Current aerial firefighting operations are limited to times when pilots have clear visibility, which lowers the risk of flying into the surrounding terrain or colliding with other aircraft. This restriction grounds most aircraft at night and during periods of heavy smoke.
During this inaugural flight test, researchers will use the airspace management system to coordinate the flight operations of two small drones, an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, and a remotely piloted aircraft that will have a backup pilot aboard. The drones and aircraft will execute examples of critical tasks for wildland fire management, including weather data sharing, simulated aerial ignition flights, and communications relay.
Media interested in viewing the ACERO flight testing must RSVP by 4 p.m. Friday, March 21, to the NASA Ames Office of Communications by email at: arc-dl-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov or by phone at 650-604-4789. NASA will release additional details, including address and arrival logistics, to media credentialed for the event. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.
NASA’s ACERO researchers will use data from the flight test to refine the airspace management system. The project aims to eventually provide this technology to wildland fire crews for use in the field, helping to save lives and property. This project is managed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.
For more information on ACERO, visit:
https://go.nasa.gov/4bYEzsD
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Rob Margetta
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
robert.j.margetta@nasa.gov
Hillary Smith
Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley
650-604-4789
hillary.smith@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Mar 18, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Ames Research Center Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations Aeronautics Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Flight Innovation View the full article
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By Space Force
The Department of the Air Force announced effective immediately, administrative leave, travel, and transportation reimbursement for elective abortion will cease.
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