Niallia tiangongensis

Niallia tiangongensis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Kingdom:	Bacillati
Phylum:	Bacillota
Class:	Bacilli
Order:	Bacillales
Family:	Bacillaceae
Genus:	Niallia
Species:	N. tiangongensis
Binomial name
Niallia tiangongensis Yuan et al. 2025

Niallia tiangongensis is a Gram-positive, aerobic, spore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium belonging to the genus Niallia within the family Bacillaceae. It was first isolated from surface samples collected aboard the Tiangong space station during China's Shenzhou-15 mission in May 2023. The species was formally described in 2025 following genomic and phenotypic analyses. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Discovery

Samples leading to the identification of N. tiangongensis were obtained from the surface of hardware within the Tiangong space station as part of the China Space Station Habitation Area Microbiome Program (CHAMP). The collected samples were returned to Earth for analysis, where the strain was isolated and characterized. ^{[1] [2]}

The species is particularly adept at metabolizing gelatin.^{[ citation needed ]}

See also

• Tiangong space station
• Niallia

References

1. Yuan, Junxia; Zhang, Wende; Dang, Lei; Song, Yan; Yin, Zhao; He, Ziwei; Xu, Kanyan; Guo, Pei; Yin, Hong (March 2025). "Niallia tiangongensis sp. nov., isolated from the China Space Station". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 75 (3). doi:10.1099/ijsem.0.006693. PMID   40029317.
2. Jones, Andrew (2025-05-21). "New species of space-adapted bacteria discovered on China's Tiangong space station". Space. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
3. Garay, Jorge. "New Bacteria Have Been Discovered on a Chinese Space Station". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2025-05-22.