Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T05:48:53.455Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Seeds in space

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2007

Mary E. Musgrave
Mary E. Musgrave*
Affiliation:
Biology Department, 221 Morrill Science Center, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003-5810, USA
*
*Correspondence Fax: 4135459784 Email: musgrave@nsm.umass.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Since experimentation with plants began in space, a wide range of information has been gained regarding how this unique environment affects the biology of seeds. Seed biology experiments in this milieu have addressed aspects of seed storage, seed germination and metabolism, seedling orientation and seed production by flowering plants. Construction of hardware that provides a suitable growth environment in microgravity has been especially challenging because of the consequences posed by microgravity for fluid and gas distribution around the plant. Fluid shifting causes seed hydration kinetics to occur at a faster rate in microgravity than in 1 g; however, it also induces hypoxic metabolism during the seed germination process. In the absence of a detectable gravitational force, seedling roots grow according to their embryonic orientation and then initiate random walk movements. Light and oxygen gradients are the primary stimuli that orient root growth in this environment. For seed development to occur in spaceflight, well-ventilated growth chambers are necessary to support the carbohydrate supply needs of the developing embryos, and to provide the necessary humidity gradient for anthers to successfully dehisce and release pollen. The dry weight of seeds formed in space is lower than that in ground controls, and seed storage reserves are altered. Seed storage phenomena in spaceflight depend on whether or not oxygen and moisture are present – if not, viability exceeds that of seeds stored under comparable conditions on the ground. Because of the key role to be played by seeds in future advanced life support scenarios in space, more research is needed on the implications of this unique environment for seed biology.

Keywords

embryogenesisgerminationgravitropismmicrogravityoxytropismspaceflightstorage
Type
Research Article
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , March 2002 , pp. 1 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alston, J.A. (1991). Seeds in space experiment. pp. 1625–1629in Levine, A.S. (Ed.) LDEF: 69 months in space. First post-retrieval symposium. Hampton, VA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Langley Research Center.Google Scholar
Antonsen, F. and Johnsson, A. (1998) Effects of microgravity on the growth of Lepidium roots. Journal of Gravitational Physiology 5,13–21.Google ScholarPubMed
Bayonove, J.F., Raffi, J.J. and Agnel, J.P. (1994) Investigation on rice embryos and seeds after the LDEF flight: electronic spin resonance identification. Advances in Space Research 14, 53–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bingham, G.E., Jones, S.B., Podolsky, I. and Yendler, B.S. (1996). Porous substrate water relations observed during the Greenhouse-2 flight experiment. Society of Automotive Engineers Technical Paper 961547.Google Scholar
Brown, A.H., Dahl, A.O. and Chapman, D.K. (1976) Morphology of Arabidopsis grown under chronic centrifugation and on the clinostat. Plant Physiology 57, 358–364.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, A.H., Chapman, D.K. and Heathcote, D.G. (1992). Characterization of precocious seedling development observed during IML-1 mission. ASGSB Bulletin 6, 58.Google Scholar
Brown, C.S., Sanwo, M.M., Hilaire, E., Guikema, J.A., Stryewski, E.C. and Piastuch, W.C. (1996). Starch metabolism and ethylene production in space-grown soybean seedlings. Gravitational and Space Biology Bulletin 10, 34.Google Scholar
Bula, R.J., Morrow, R.C., Tibbitts, T.W., Barta, D.J., Ignatius, R.W. and Martin, T.S. (1991) Light emitting diodes as a radiation source for plants. HortScience 26, 203–205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cook, M.E., Croxdale, J.L., Tibbitts, T.W., Goins, G., Brown, C.S. and Wheeler, R.M. (1998) Development and growth of potato tubers in microgravity. Advances in Space Research 21, 1103–1110.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Daly, K. and Thompson, K.H. (1975) Quantitative dose–response of growth and development in Arabidopsis thaliana exposed to chronic gamma-radiation. International Journal of Radiation Biology and Related Studies in Physics, Chemistry and Medicine 28, 61–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frank, A.L., Benton, E.V., Armstrong, T.W. and Colborn, B.L. (1993). Absorbed dose measurements and predictions on LDEF. pp. 163–170in Levine, A.S. (Ed.) LDEF: 69 months in space. Second post-retrieval symposium. Hampton, VA, NASA Langley Research Center.Google Scholar
Frick, J., Nielsen, S.S. and Mitchell, C.A. (1994) Yield and seed oil content response of dwarf, rapid-cycling Brassica to nitrogen treatments, planting density, and carbon dioxide enrichment. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 119, 1137–1143.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grigsby, D.K. and Ehrlich, H.R. (1991). Space Exposed Experiment Developed for Students (SEEDS). pp. 1635–1636in Levine, A.S. (Ed.) LDEF: 69 months in space. First post-retrieval symposium. Hampton, VA, NASA Langley Research Center.Google Scholar
Halstead, T.W. and Dutcher, F.R. (1984) Status and prospects. Annals of Botany 54(Suppl. 3), 3–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halstead, T.W. and Dutcher, F.R. (1987) Plants in space. Annual Review of Plant Physiology 38, 317–345.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hammond, E.C., Bridgers, K. and Berry, F.D. (1996) Germination, growth rate, and electron microscope analysis of tomato seeds flown on the LDEF. Radiation Measurement 26, 851–861.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henninger, D.L. (2001). Advanced life support for a human mission to Mars. Gravitational and Space Biology Bulletin 15(1), 80.Google Scholar
Heslop-Harrison, J., Heslop-Harrison, Y. and Shivanna, K.R. (1984) The evaluation of pollen quality and a further appraisal of the fluorochromatic (FCR) test procedure. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 67, 367–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janik, D.S., Macler, B.A. and MacElroy, R.D. (1988). Effect of iodine disinfected water on soybean seed germination [abstract]. American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology meeting proceedings, 20–23 October, 1988, Washington, DC p. 39.Google Scholar
Johnson, C.F., Dreschel, T.W., Carlson, C.W. and Brown, C.S. (1995). Analysis of water imbibition in a seed germination medium for the Microgravity Plant Nutrient Experiment on the KC-135. ASGSB Bulletin 9(1), 48.Google Scholar
Johnsson, A., Karlsson, C., Iversen, T.-H. and Chapman, D.K. (1996) Random root movements in weightlessness. Physiologia Plantarum 96, 169–178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kahn, B.A. and Stoffella, P.J. (1996) No evidence of adverse effects on germination, emergence, and fruit yield due to space exposure of tomato seeds. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 121, 414–418.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kiss, J.Z. (2000) Mechanisms of the early phases of plant gravitropism. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences 19, 551–573.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kiss, J.Z., Guisinger, M.M., Miller, A.J. and Stackhouse, K.S. (1997) Reduced gravitropism in hypocotyls of starch-deficient mutants of Arabidopsis. Plant and Cell Physiology 38, 518–525.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kiss, J.Z., Brinckmann, E. and Brillouet, C. (2000) Development and growth of several strains of Arabidopsis seedlings in microgravity. International Journal of Plant Sciences 161, 55–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kordyum, E.L., Sytnik, K.M. and Chernyaeva, I.I. (1983) Peculiarities of genital organ formation in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. under spaceflight conditions. Advances in Space Research 3, 247–250.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krikorian, A.D. (1996) Space stress and genome shock in developing plant cells. Physiologia Plantarum 98, 901–908.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krikorian, A.D. (1998) Plants and somatic embryos in space: what have we learned?. Gravitational and Space Biology Bulletion 11, 5–14.Google ScholarPubMed
Krikorian, A.D. and Levine, H.G. (1991). Development and growth in space, pp. 491–555in Steward, F.C. (Ed.) Plant physiology: Growth and development. New York, Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krikorian, A.D. and O'Connor, S.A. (1984) Experiments on plants grown in space. Karyological observations. Annals of Botany 54(Suppl. 3), 49–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuang, A., Musgrave, M.E., Matthews, S.W., Cummins, D.B. and Tucker, S.C. (1995) Pollen and ovule development in Arabidopsis thaliana under spaceflight conditions. American Journal of Botany 82, 585–595.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuang, A., Musgrave, M.E. and Matthews, S.W. (1996) Modification of reproductive development in Arabidopsis thaliana under spaceflight conditions. Planta 198, 588–594.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuang, A., Xiao, Y. and Musgrave, M.E. (1996) Cytochemical localization of reserves during seed development in Arabidopsis thaliana under spaceflight conditions. Annals of Botany 78, 343–351.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuang, A., Popova, A., Xiao, Y. and Musgrave, M.E. (2000) Pollination and embryo development in Brassica rapa L. in microgravity. International Journal of Plant Science 161, 203–211.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuang, A., Xiao, Y., McClure, G. and Musgrave, M.E. (2000) Influence of microgravity on ultrastructure and storage reserves in seeds of Brassica rapa L. Annals of Botany 85, 851–859.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuznetsov, O.A., Brown, C.S., Sanwo, M.M. and Hasenstein, K.H. (1997). Magneto-graviphoretic studies show differences in starch metabolism of space-flown soybean. Gravitational and Space Biology Bulletin 11, 24.Google Scholar
Levine, H.G. and Piastuch, W.C. (1999) A method for the imbibition and germination of wheat seeds in space. Life Support and Biosphere Science 6, 221–230.Google ScholarPubMed
Levine, H.G., Kahn, R.P. and Krikorian, A.D. (1990). Plant development in space: observations on root formation and growth. pp. 503–508in David, V. (Ed.) Proceedings of the fourth European symposium on life sciences research in space. Trieste, Italy, 28 May to 1 June 1990. Noordwijk, The Netherlands, ESA Publications, ESTEC.Google Scholar
Levinskikh, M.A., Sychev, V.N., Derendyaeva, T.A., Signalova, O.B., Salisbury, F.B., Campbell, W.F., Bingham, G.E., Bubenheim, D.L. and Jahns, G. (2000) Analysis of the spaceflight effects on growth and development of super dwarf wheat grown on the space station Mir. Journal of Plant Physiology 156, 522–529.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mashinsky, A., Ivanova, I., Derendyaeva, T., Nechitailo, G. and Salisbury, F. (1994) “From seed-to-seed” experiment with wheat plants under space-flight conditions. Advances in Space Research 14, 13–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mei, M., Qiu, Y., He, Y., Bucker, H. and Yang, C.H. (1994) Mutational effects of space flight on Zea mays seeds. Advances in Space Research 14, 33–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Merkys, A.I. and Laurinavicius, R.S. (1983) Complete cycle of individual development of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. plants on board the Salyut-7 orbital station. Dokladi Akademii Nauk SSSR 271, 509–512.Google Scholar
Moore, R. (1990) Comparative effectiveness of a clinostat and a slow-turning lateral vessel at mimicking the ultrastructural effects of microgravity in plant cells. Annals of Botany 66, 541–549.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrow, R.C., Ehle, C.J. and Crabb, T.M. (2000). Regenerable seed plugs from formed plant fiber. Gravitational and Space Biology Bulletin 15, 37.Google Scholar
Musgrave, M.E., Kuang, A. and Matthews, S.W. (1997) Plant reproduction during spaceflight: importance of the gaseous environment. Planta 203(Suppl.), 177–184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Musgrave, M.E., Kuang, A., Brown, C.S. and Matthews, S.W. (1998) Changes in Arabidopsis leaf ultrastructure, chlorophyll, and carbohydrate content during spaceflight depend on ventilation. Annals of Botany 81, 503–512.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Musgrave, M.E., Kuang, A., Xiao, Y., Stout, S.C., Bingham, G.E., Briarty, L.G., Levinskikh, M.A., Sychev, V.N. and Podolski, I.G. (2000) Gravity-independence of seed-to-seed cycling in Brassica rapa. Planta 210, 400–406.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nechitailo, G.S. and Mashinsky, A.L. (1993). Space biology: Studies at orbital station. Moscow, Mir Publishers.Google Scholar
NRC (National Research Council). (1997). Advanced technology for human support in space. Committee on advanced technology for human support in space. Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, Washington, DC, National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Parfenov, G.P. and Abramova, V.N. (1981). Blossoming and maturation of Arabidopsis seed: Experiment on Biosatellite Kosmos 1129. Dokladi Akademii Nauk SSR 256, 254.Google Scholar
Paul, A.L., Daugherty, C.J., Bihn, E.A., Chapman, D.K., Norwood, K.L. and Ferl, R.J. (2001) Transgene expression patterns indicate that spaceflight affects stress signal perception and transduction in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiology 126, 613–621.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perbal, G. and Drissecole, D. (1994) Sensitivity to gravistimulus of lentil seedling roots grown in space during the IML-1 mission of Spacelab. Physiologia Plantarum 90, 313–318.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Porterfield, D.M. and Musgrave, M.E. (1998) The tropic response of plant roots to oxygen: oxytropism in Pisum sativum L. Planta 206, 1–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Porterfield, D.M., Matthews, S.W., Daugherty, C.J. and Musgrave, M.E. (1997) Spaceflight exposure effects on transcription, activity and localization of alcohol dehydrogenase in the roots of Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiology 113, 685–693.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Porterfield, D.M., Dreschel, T.W. and Musgrave, M.E. (2000) A ground-based comparison of three nutrient delivery technologies originally developed for growing plants in the spaceflight environment. HortTechnology 10, 179–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porterfield, D.M., Monje, O., Stutte, G.W. and Musgrave, M.E. (2000). Rootzone hypoxic responses result from inhibition of gravity dependent oxygen transport in microgravity. Gravitational and Space Biology Bulletin 14, 50.Google Scholar
Porterfield, D.M., Neichitailo, G.S., Mashinski, A.L. and Musgrave, M.E. (2002). Complete plant growth systems in space. Advances in Space Research (in press).Google Scholar
Robbelen, G. and Thies, W. (1980). Biosynthesis of seed oil and breeding for improved oil quality of rapeseed. pp. 253–284in Tsunoda, S.;Hinata, K.;Gomez-Campo, C. (Eds) Brassica crops and wild allies, biology and breeding. Tokyo, Japan, Scientific Societies Press.Google Scholar
Salisbury, F.B. and Bugbee, B.G. (1988). Space farming in the 21st century. 21st Century (March–April 1988), 32–41.Google Scholar
Salisbury, F.B., Bingham, G.E., Campbell, W.F., Carman, J.G., Hole, P., Gillespie, L.S., Sychev, V.N., Berkovitch, Yu., Podolsky, I.G. and Levinskikh, M. (1995). Growing super-dwarf wheat on the Russian space station Mir. ASGSB Bulletin 9, 63.Google Scholar
Schuerger, A.C., Norman, B.L. and Angelo, J.A. (1991). Survival of epiphytic bacteria from seed stored in the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). p. 1637in Levine, A.S. (Ed.) LDEF, 69 months in space: First post-retrieval symposium. Hampton, VA, NASA Langley Research Center.Google Scholar
Sievers, A. and Hejnowicz, Z. (1992) How well does the clinostat mimic the effect of microgravity on plant cells and organs?. ASGSB Bulletin 5, 69–75.Google ScholarPubMed
Slocum, R.D., Gaynor, J.J. and Galston, A.W. (1984) Cytological and ultrastructural studies on root tissues. Annals of Botany 54, 65–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stankovic, B., Volkmann, D. and Sack, F.D. (1998) Autonomic straightening after gravitropic curvature of cress roots. Plant Physiology 117, 893–900.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stout, S.C., Porterfield, D.M., Briarty, L.G., Kuang, A. and Musgrave, M.E. (2001) Evidence of root zone hypoxia in Brassica rapa L. grown in microgravity. International Journal of Plant Sciences 162, 249–255.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Strickland, D.T., Campbell, W.F., Salisbury, F.B. and Bingham, G.E. (1997). Morphological assessment of reproductive structures of wheat grown on Mir. Gravitational and Space Biology Bulletin 11, 14.Google Scholar
Takahashi, H., Mizuno, H., Kamada, M., Fujii, N., Higashitani, A., Kamigaichi, S., Aizawa, S., Mukai, C., Shimazu, T., Fukui, K. and Yamashita, M. (1999) A spaceflight experiment for the study of gravimorphogenesis and hydrotropism in cucumber seedlings. Journal of Plant Research 112, 497–505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Todd, P. (1989) Gravity-dependent phenomena at the scale of the single cell. ASGSB Bulletin 2, 95–113.Google ScholarPubMed
Vitha, S., Zhao, L. and Sack, F.D. (2000) Interaction of root gravitropism and phototropism in Arabidopsis wild-type and starchless mutants. Plant Physiology 122, 453–461.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Volkmann, D., Behrens, H.M. and Sievers, A. (1986) Development and gravity sensing of cress roots under microgravity. Die Naturwissenschaften 73, 438–441.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walther, I., Bechler, B., Muller, O., Hunzinger, E. and Cogoli, A. (1996) Cultivation of Saccharomyces cerevisae in a bioreactor in microgravity. Journal of Biotechnology 47, 113–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimmermann, M.W., Gartenbach, K.E. and Kranz, A.R. (1994) First radiobiological results of LDEF-1 experiment A0015 with Arabidopsis seed embryos and Sordaria fungus spores. Advances in Space Research 14, 47–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed