biostudies-literatureOlsson-Francis KScience and Technology Facilities Council2115-21https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC2849240biostudies-literatureUnknown76(7)Many cyanobacteria are known to tolerate environmental extremes. Motivated by an interest in selecting cyanobacteria for applications in space, we launched rocks from a limestone cliff in Beer, Devon, United Kingdom, containing an epilithic and endolithic rock-dwelling community of cyanobacteria into low Earth orbit (LEO) at a height of approximately 300 kilometers. The community was exposed for 10 days to isolate cyanobacteria that can survive exposure to the extreme radiation and desiccating conditions associated with space. Culture-independent (16S rRNA) and culture-dependent methods showed that the cyanobacterial community was composed of Pleurocapsales, Oscillatoriales, and Chroococcales. A single cyanobacterium, a previously uncharacterized extremophile, was isolated after exposure tApplied and environmental microbiologyIsolation of novel extreme-tolerant cyanobacteria from a rock-dwelling microbial community by using exposure to low Earth orbit.PMC2849240ST/F003102/1PP/E001408/1Olsson-Francis Kde la Torre RCockell CSfalseIsolation of novel extreme-tolerant cyanobacteria from a rock-dwelling microbial community by using exposure to low Earth orbit.Many cyanobacteria are known to tolerate environmental extremes. Motivated by an interest in selecting cyanobacteria for applications in space, we launched rocks from a limestone cliff in Beer, Devon, United Kingdom, containing an epilithic and endolithic rock-dwelling community of cyanobacteria into low Earth orbit (LEO) at a height of approximately 300 kilometers. The community was exposed for 10 days to isolate cyanobacteria that can survive exposure to the extreme radiation and desiccating conditions associated with space. Culture-independent (16S rRNA) and culture-dependent methods showed that the cyanobacterial community was composed of Pleurocapsales, Oscillatoriales, and Chroococcales. A single cyanobacterium, a previously uncharacterized extremophile, was isolated after exposure t2010-01-01T00:00:00Z2010 Apr2026-04-30T22:29:00.622Z2019-03-27T00:29:51ZS-EPMC28492402015412010.1128/AEM.02547-0910.1128/aem.02547-09