Fig. 2: Acidified regolith simulant utilization by RPET.
From: Developing an alternative medium for in-space biomanufacturing
a Evaluating the toxicity of acidified Lunar physical (Phys.) and chemical (Chem.) regolith simulant, and Martian regolith simulant (note: error bars of some data points were too small to be shown). RPET S6 was inoculated into the minimal medium with identical nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon sources and varying concentrations of acidified regolith simulants (ranging from 0.5 g/L to 8.0 g/L). b–d Minimizing N and P levels in the minimal medium when using either acidified Lunar physical regolith simulant (b), Lunar chemical regolith simulant (c), or Martian regolith simulant (d) as a mineral source. RPET S6 cultivated in the minimal medium without acidified regolith simulant represents negative control ((−) control), while cultivation in regular minimal medium represents the positive control ((+) control). The variations in the changes of final cell density (OD600) were analyzed by using an unpaired two-tailed t-test. The 95% confidence interval for the difference between means of 0.5× N, 0.5× P w/ Sim, and negative controls for Lunar physical, chemical, and Martian regolith simulants are 2.04 to 2.38, 2.14 to 2.4, and 2.21 to 2.46, respectively. All values represent the mean of triplicate cultures (N = 3), with error bars depicting the standard deviation. w/ Sim, with regolith simulant; w/o Sim, without regolith simulant. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
