Selected publications

Publications from the Space Microbiology group

Prescott, Chan, Tong, Onouye, Handel, Lo, Davenport, Johnson, Flynn, Saito, Lee, Lawson, Hiura, Sager, Sadones, Esibill, Cockell, Santomartino, Chain, Decho, Donachie. (2023) Bridging place-based astrobiology education with genomics, including descriptions of three novel bacterial species isolated from Mars analog sites of cultural relevance. Astrobiology, 23, 12. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2023.0072

Tonietti, Barosa, Pioltelli, Giovannelli, et al., Santomartino, Rotundi (2023) Exploring the Development of Astrobiology Scientific Research through Bibliometric Network Analysis: A Focus on Biomining and Bioleaching. Minerals, 13, 797. https://doi.org/10.3390/min13060797

Santomartino, Averesch, Bhuiyan, Cockell, Colangelo,et al., (2023) Toward Sustainable Space Exploration: A Roadmap for Harnessing the Power of Microorganisms, Nat Commun 14, 1391. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37070-2

Santomartino, Zea & Cockell (2022) The smallest space miners: principles of space biomining. Extremophiles 26,7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-021-01253-w (invited review).

Cockell & Santomartino Mining and Microbiology for the Solar System Silicate and Basalt Economy. in In Space Manufacturing Resources: Earth and Planetary Exploration Applications (eds. Hessel, V., Stoudemire, J., Miyamoto, H. & Fisk, I. D.) 163–185 (Wiley, 2022). https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527830909.ch8

Santomartino*, Cockell*, Finster, Waajen, Nicholson, et al., (2021) Microbially-Enhanced Vanadium Mining and Bioremediation Under Micro- and Mars Gravity on the International Space Station. Front. Microbiol. 12:641387. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.641387 . (*Co-first authors)

Santomartino*, Cockell*, Finster, Waajen, Eades, et al., (2020) Space station biomining experiment demonstrates rare earth element extraction in microgravity and Mars gravity. Nat Commun. 11, 5523. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19276-w (*Co-first authors)

Santomartino, Waajen, de Wit, Nicholson, Parmitano, et al., (2020), No effect of microgravity and simulated Mars gravity on final bacterial cell concentrations on the International Space Station: applications to space bioproduction, Front. Microbiol. 11:579156. http://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.579156

Santomartino, Ottaviano, Camponeschi, Landicho, Falato, Visca, Soulard, Lemaire, Bianchi (2019). The hypoxic expression of the glucose transporter RAG1 reveals the role of the bHLH transcription factor Sck1 as a novel hypoxic modulator in Kluyveromyces lactis. FEMS Yeast Research, 19,4, foz041, https://doi.org/10.1093/femsyr/foz041 (Editor’s choice)

Santomartino, Camponeschi, Polo, Immesi, Rinaldi, Mazzoni, Brambilla, Bianchi (2019). The hypoxic transcription factor KlMga2 mediates the response to oxidative stress and influences longevity in the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis. FEMS Yeast Research, 19,3, foz020, https://doi.org/10.1093/femsyr/foz020

Santomartino, Riego-Ruiz, Bianchi. (2017). Three, two, one yeast fatty acid desaturases: regulation and function. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 33, 89 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-017-2257-y; (invited review).

De Angelis, Rinaldi, Cirigliano, Bello, Reverberi, Amaretti, Montanari, Santomartino, Raimondi, Gonzalez et al. (2016) Functional roles of the fatty acid desaturases encoded by KlOLE1, FAD2 and FAD3 in the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis. Microbiology (Reading);162(8):1435-1445. https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.000315

Ottaviano, Montanari, De Angelis, Santomartino, Visca, Brambilla, Rinaldi, Bello, Reverberi, Bianchi, (2015) Unsaturated fatty acids-dependent linkage between respiration and fermentation revealed by deletion of hypoxic regulatory KlMGA2 gene in the facultative anaerobe-respiratory yeast Kluyveromyces lactis, FEMS Yeast Research, 15, 5, August, fov028, https://doi.org/10.1093/femsyr/fov028 .

Preprints and other scientific writing

Santomartino, Blanco, Gudgeon, Hafner, Waajen, Mclaughlin, Mariani, et al., (2024) Testing microbial biomining from asteroidal material onboard the International Space Station. bioRxiv 2024.01.13.575412; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.01.13.575412

Tonietti, Barosa, Pioltelli, Giovannelli, Covone, Di Donato, Cordone, Inno, Magliano, Fiscale, Muscari Tomajoli, Napolitano, Piccirillo, Della Corte, Santomartino, Rotundi, (2023) Exploring the Development of Astrobiology Scientific Research Through Bibliometric Network Analysis: A Focus on Biomining and Bioleaching. Preprints.org 2023, 2023050739. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202305.0739.v1 .

(in alphabetical order) Billi, Cavalieri, Cavalazzi, Cobucci Ponzano, Cotronei, Del Bianco, Ferranti, Giovannelli, Onofri, Pacelli, Pasquarella, Piccirillo, Richter, Santomartino, Segata, Vagelli; Italian Space Agency (ASI) SPACE LIFE SCIENCES ROADMAP – Macroarea of Microbiology (2022)

Santomartino, Averesch, Bhuiyan, Cockell, Colangelo, Gumulya, Jha, Lehner, Lopez-Ayala, McMahon, Mohanty, Santa Maria, Urbaniak, Volger, Yang; (2021) Biologically Facilitated Processes Towards Sustainable Space Exploration. Topical white paper for NASA’s Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences Research in Space 2023-2032.

Cockell, Santomartino, McMahon, Reekie, Alberti, Phillipson, Russell, (2019) A laboratory for multi-century science. Astron. Geophys. 60, 6.26–6.28.