Microgravity research in plants

Böhmer, Maik; Schleiff, Enrico

doi:10.15252/embr.201948541

Cited by 24 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 8 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…Since it is currently not possible to determine what exactly affects the presumed cytoskeleton injuries and the transformation of cell walls, we can only assume that reduced gravity may be the most obvious candidate. Thus, damage to the cytoskeleton, the changes in the expression of genes associated with it, have been established for animal cells, humans, and plants in microgravity conditions [14,22,39]. Another likely damaging agent may be a hypomagnetic (weakened geomagnetic) field, which causes noticeable cytoskeletal disturbances, and also multiple effects associated with changes in chromatin conformation and other epigenetic processes [40,41], which are mediated by correction of gene expression, and other changes characteristic of stressful effects [42,43].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wheat Space Odyssey: “From Seed to Seed”. Kernel Morphology

Баранова¹,

Levinskikh

Гулевич³

2019

Life

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The long-term autonomous existence of man in extraterrestrial conditions is associated with the need to cultivate plants-the only affordable and effective means for both providing oxygen and CO 2 utilization, and providing one of the most habitual and energetically valuable products: plant food. In this study, we analyzed the results of the space odyssey of wheat and compared the morphological features of parental grains harvested from soil grown wheat plants, the grains obtained from plants grown in a specialized device for plant cultivation-the "Lada" space greenhouses during space flight in the ISS, and the grains obtained from plants in the same device on Earth. The seeds obtained under various conditions were studied using scanning electron microscopy. We studied the mutual location of the surface layers of the kernel cover tissues, the structural features of the tube and cross cells of the fruit coat (pericarp), and the birsh hairs of the kernels. It was found that the grains obtained under wheat plants cultivation on board of the ISS in near space had some specific differences from the parental, original grains, and the grains obtained from plants grown in the "Lada" greenhouse in ground conditions. These changes were manifested in a shortening of the birsh hairs, and a change in the size and relative arrangement of the cells of the kernel coat. We suggest that such changes are a manifestation of the sensitivity of the cytoskeleton reorganization systems and water exchange to the influence of particular physical conditions of space flight (microgravity, increased doses of radiation, etc.). Thus, the revealed changes did not hinder the wheat grains production "from seed to seed", which allows the cultivation of this crop in stable life support systems in near earth orbit. Author Contributions: All authors wrote and approved the final manuscript. Conceptualization, E.N.B. and M.A.L.; Methodology, E.N.B. and A.A.G.; Validation, E.N.B., M.A.L. and A.A.G.; Investigation, E.N.B.; resources, M.A.L.; Data curation, E.N.B. and M.A.L.; Writing-Original draft preparation, E.N.B. and A.A.G.; Writing-Review and editing, E.N.B. and M.A.L.; Visualization, E.N.B.; Supervision, E.N.B. and M.A.L.; Project administration, E.N.B. and M.A.L.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wheat Space Odyssey: “From Seed to Seed”. Kernel Morphology

Баранова¹,

Levinskikh

Гулевич³

2019

Life

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“…Plants grown under zero gravity and cosmic radiation undergo physical, physiological, and genetic changes ( Krikorian and Steward, 1978 ; Böhmer and Schleiff, 2019 ), and it is possible that cosmic radiation may be used as a method of genetic modification. Space crop projects have garnered enormous attention worldwide for a long time and have succeeded in revealing a considerable amount of biological information ( Ferl et al, 2002 ; Wolverton and Kiss, 2009 ).…”

Section: Development Of Mutant Varieties Through Space Breedingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space Breeding: The Next-Generation Crops

Mohanta

Mishra

Mohanta³

et al. 2021

Front. Plant Sci.

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Since the beginning of space exploration, researchers have been exploring the role of microgravity, cosmic radiation, and other aspects of the space environment on plant growth and development. To create superior crop varieties and achieve noticeable success in the space environment, several types of research have been conducted thus far. Space-grown plants have been exposed to cosmic radiation and microgravity, which has led to the generation of crop varieties with diverse genotypes and phenotypes arising from different cellular, subcellular, genomic, chromosomal, and biochemical changes. DNA damage and chromosomal aberrations due to cosmic radiation are the major factors responsible for genetic polymorphism and the generation of crops with modified genetic combinations. These changes can be used to produce next-generation crop varieties capable of surviving diverse environmental conditions. This review aims to elucidate the detailed molecular mechanisms and genetic mutations found in plants used in recent space crop projects and how these can be applied in space breeding programmes in the future.

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“…But the ISS orbits at about 28,000km per hour, so its acceleration matches the Earth's curvature. This counterbalances gravity, thereby creating ‘weightlessness’ …”

Section: Into Orbitmentioning

confidence: 99%