Study Finds One Bacteria Can Clean Up Radioactive Sites, Protect Radiotherapy Patients & Astronauts

Deinococcus geothermalis cells are extremely radiation-resistant. In a new study by USU researchers, radiation-resistant bacteria, when mixed with radiation-sensitive bacteria, could survive high doses of chronic ionizing radiation. These findings suggest the Deinococcus bacteria could be used as a natural radioprotective probiotic to protect microbes in the intestines of radio- and chemotherapy patients. (Courtesy Photo) https://www.dvidshub.net/search?q=deinococcus&view=grid

By Sarah Marshall

A new discovery by scientists at the Uniformed Services University (USU) could aid efforts to clean up radioactive waste sites, and could also help protect military personnel, cancer patients, and astronauts.

According to the collaborative study published Dec. 20 in PLOS One, the team examined growth characteristics of bacteria under high-level continuous gamma radiation. They found radiation-sensitive bacteria, E. coli (Escherichi coli), when mixed with radiation-resistant bacteria, Deinococcus radiodurans, can survive high doses of chronic ionizing radiation.

These findings suggest the Deinococcus bacteria (and also some fungi) — which express high concentrations of antioxidants — could be used as a natural radioprotective probiotic to protect microbes in the intestines of radio- and chemotherapy patients. These unexpected findings also suggest a new tool that could help protect military personnel and astronauts who experience gastrointestinal side effects from high levels of chronic ionizing radiation.

A man in a hazmat suit holds something up to look at it
A U.S. Soldier with the 43rd Civil Support Team, South 
Carolina Army National Guard tests the walls for radiation 
in a building during a radiological training exercise. 
USU researchers recently discovered a new way to help 
expedite the cleanup of radioactive waste sites. 
Their discovery could also help astronauts experiencing 
GI side effects from high levels of chronic ionizing radiation. 
(Image credit:U.S. Army National Guard 
Sgt. Erica Knight/Released)
In 2004, it was discovered that radiation-sensitive bacteria were living alongside extremely radiation-resistant bacteria underneath a leaking Cold War radioactive waste tank holding leftovers from the Manhattan Project. The team of scientists at USU sought to better understand this mystery — why it is that, in radioactive waste sites, radiation-sensitive bacteria can survive where only extremely radiation-resistant bacteria usually grow.

Now, with this better understanding of the characteristics of the Deinococcus bacteria, the researchers believe that they could help expedite the clean-up of Cold War radioactive wastes by harnessing the capabilities of other more sensitive microbes.

“Importantly, this study also shows that many yeasts can grow as well as Deinococcus under high-level chronic gamma radiation.  These microbes have shown us that cells deal with radiation in the form of a big blast in a very different way from radiation in the form of long exposures - say, following a nuclear power accident, such as Fukushima,” according to USU professor Dr. Michael J. Daly, who led the study.

The study, “Microbial cells can cooperate to resist high-level chronic ionizing radiation,” was conducted by a team of researchers including Vera Y. Matrosova, a Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF) staff scientist at USU, and Dr. Igor Shuryak, an assistant professor at the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University. The project was supported by Defense Threat Reduction Agency grants to Shuryak (Defense Threat Reduction Agency, grant HDTRA-18774-M). The team in USU’s Department of Pathology included HJF contract scientists Dr. Elena K. Gaidamakova, Dr. Rok Tkavc, Dr. Olga Grichenko, Ms. Polina Klimenkova and Mr. Robert P. Volpe.