The International Space Station (ISS) is a closed facility that orbits the earth carrying not only its crew but also microorganisms. We have participated in microbiota analysis projects for the Japanese Experiment Module KIBO (ISS; operations nomenclature: Microbe-I, II, III, and IV) and were in charge of fungal screening. The interior of KIBO was sampled using swabs and microbe detection sheets (MDSs) for fungal detection. The dominant genera obtained by culture were Aspergillus and Penicillium. DNA analyses of the fungal biota using a clone library showed that KIBO was dominated by Malassezia, a fungal inhabitant of human skin. Three fungal species, Aspergillus sydowii, Penicillium palitans, and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, which grew under microgravity in KIBO were observed under a field emission-scanning electron microscope on the ground. No novel phenotypic characteristics were noted. The results of antifungal susceptibility testing of all isolates did not differ significantly from previous reports of corresponding fungi. In Microbe-I (August 2009), MDSs were culture negative, while in the next stages the CFU of MDSs were 10 for Microbe-II (February 2011), 24 for Microbe-III (October 2012), and 151 for Microbe-IV (February 2015). These results indicated that fungi inside KIBO are increasing and expanding over time, and therefore continuous surveillance is crucial.

中文翻译：

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从国际空间站日本实验舱 KIBO 中分离出的真菌在确定真菌多样性和表征方面的七年进展

国际空间站 (ISS) 是一个封闭的设施，围绕地球运行，不仅载有机组人员，还载有微生物。我们参与了日本实验模块 KIBO（ISS；操作命名法：Microbe-I、II、III 和 IV）的微生物群分析项目，并负责真菌筛选。使用拭子和微生物检测片 (MDS) 对 KIBO 内部进行采样以进行真菌检测。培养获得的优势属为曲霉属和青霉属。使用克隆文库对真菌生物群进行的 DNA 分析表明，KIBO 以马拉色菌为主，马拉色菌是一种人类皮肤真菌。三种真菌，西氏曲霉、帕利坦青霉和在地面场发射扫描电子显微镜下观察了在KIBO微重力条件下生长的粘液红酵母。没有发现新的表型特征。所有分离株的抗真菌药敏试验结果与之前相应真菌的报道没有显着差异。在 Microbe-I（2009 年 8 月）中，MDS 的培养结果为阴性，而在下一阶段，Microbe-II（2011 年 2 月）的 MDS 的 CFU 为 10，Microbe-III（2012 年 10 月）为 24，Microbe-IV 为 151 （2015 年 2 月）。这些结果表明 KIBO 内的真菌随着时间的推移不断增加和扩大，因此持续监测至关重要。