Article révisé par les pairs
Résumé : Background The biological effects of spaceflight remain incompletely understood, even in humans (Homo sapiens),and are largely unexplored in non‑traditional models such as bdelloid rotifers.Results This study analyzes the transcriptomic changes experienced by Adineta vaga, a bdelloid rotiferaboard the International Space Station (ISS), using RNA sequencing. The aim was to investigate the overall effectof spaceflight in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) on these organisms. To this end, new hardware was developed to enableautonomous culturing of rotifers with minimal astronaut intervention. The study revealed significant transcrip‑tomic changes, with 18.61% of genes showing differential expression in response to microgravity and radiation.These changes included upregulation of genes involved in protein synthesis, RNA metabolic processes, and DNArepair. Notably, the study also found a significant enrichment of foreign genes (Horizontal Gene Transfers: HGTs)among the genes that were either over‑ or under‑expressed during spaceflight, suggesting that HGTs play a rolein bdelloids’ adaptability to new and potentially atypical environments.Conclusions This research not only enhances our understanding of how organisms respond to microgravitybut also proposes A. vaga as a valuable model for future studies in space biology.

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