BIODEVICES FOR THE DETECTION OF SPACE RADIATION EFFECT ON PHOTOSYNTHETIC ORGANISMS

摘要

It is reported the development of: 1) a biosensor for the detection of ionising radiation (biodosimeter) utilising the advantageous properties of the Photosystem Ⅱ (PSII) complex and its response to ionising radiation; 2) a biodevice determining the effects of space stress on the oxygen-evolving activity of photosynthetic microrganisms. the biodevice is an apparatus that can reveal a biochemical variable using a biological component interfaced with an electronic transducer. It gives an electric signal that is easy to process, depending on the analysed variable. PSII particles and cells of photosynthetic oxygenic organisms compose the biological part; a fluorescence signal, correlated to photosynthetic activity, is the transducer system. Biodevices, can give information on the photosynthetic organisms able to survive to space stress, focalising the choice of organisms useful for long-term missions. They were calibrated with several radiation beams, to understand separately the effect of radiation of different LET on the biochemical activity.