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Evolution of UV Resistance in Bacillus subtilis   W.R. Owens1, P. Fajardos-Cavazos2, and W. Nicholson2, 1Benedict College, Columbia, SC 2University of Florida, Gainesville, FL/SLS Lab, Kennedy Space Center, FL

   This project tested the evolution of bacterial spores to determine whether they will evolve over several generations to adapt and develop a resistance to ultraviolet radiation during transit through space.  This project was done using cultures of Bacillus subtilis spores diluted to make 7 generations a day totaling 28 to 35 generations a week.  Daily, the spores were inoculated into liquid Difco+Cm medium and incubated overnight at 37° C.  The next day the spores were treated with a dose of UV radiation with a concentration high enough to kill 90 percent of the spores.  In addition, a UV kill curve was completed on a sample from each culture every week.