Survival and Transfer of Microorganisms beyond the Earth: To What Extent are Microorganisms Tolerant to External Influences?

The study of microorganism tolerance to extreme influences is an integral part of astrobiology. Despite the large number of works in this field, the limits of maintaining viability and activity remain uncertain, and they are probably much wider than the currently known boundaries, especially taking into account the adaptive capabilities of microorganisms. In the vast majority of astrobiological experiments, a very limited set of organisms and the impact of a small number of factors are studied. It seems natural that research gradually develops from modeling simple systems (pure cultures and single-factor impacts) to more complex ones, closer to hypothetical extraterrestrial ecosystems. Nevertheless, studies of the most complex systems (microbial communities under the complex action of extraterrestrial conditions in laboratory and space experiments) are still extremely few in number. At the same time, some features of multifactor impacts and the response of complex microbial systems to such impacts are often given little attention. This paper attempts to summarize some data on the tolerance of microorganisms to extreme factors of extraterrestrial space, as well as to outline a number of insufficiently studied promising fields of astrobiological research.