Case Study
Enhancing Crop Production
ISSInternational Space Station Study Reveals New Information on Root Growth Mechanisms
iss national lab opportunity
The ISS provides a unique platform to study fundamental plant development processes without the masking effects of gravity.
In microgravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment., researchers can observe aspects of plant development impossible to see on Earth, such as gravity’s role in root development. The plant hormone auxin is involved in determining a plant’s root growth in response to gravity. Auxin flows down the center of the root toward the root tip and then back up through the outer layer of root cells. Scientists had assumed that gravity plays a role in establishing this flow, but they could not study it on Earth because there was no way to remove gravity to see what happens in its absence.
Industries:
Agriculture, Aerospace
Strategic Focus Area:
Fundamental Science
Research Area:
Plant Science
Institution:
University of Florida
IMPACTFUL OUTCOME
Published results from this investigation challenged underlying assumptions about the role of gravity in root development.
Through space-based research, the team found that the flow and distribution of auxin is not dependent on gravity, as the scientific community had long thought. Instead, findings revealed that the pattern of auxin flow is a fundamental mechanism of root growth inherent in plants. Results were published in the Nature Partner Journal npj Microgravity, PLOS ONE, and Applications in Plant Sciences.
INVESTIGATORS
Anna-Lisa Paul
Research professor of horticultural sciences, University of Florida
Robert Ferl
Distinguished professor of horticultural sciences, University of Florida
University of Florida plant molecular biologists Robert Ferl (left) and Anna-Lisa Paul (right) in the University of Florida Space Plants Lab
Taking gravity out of the equation gives us insight into the inherent mechanisms of how plants work. And the better you understand that, the better equipped you are to design experiments on Earth to build better crops and expand productivity—in addition to being able to take plants with us when we leave Earth’s orbit for extended missions or colonies on Mars.
– Anna-Lisa Paul, University of Florida
APPLICATION
A better understanding of plant development processes enables improved crop production.
These space-based results directly translate to an improved understanding of plant development processes on the ground. Such knowledge could lead to advances that improve crop production on Earth. It could also inform crop production on future long-duration spaceflight missions.
Note: This content is abridged from an article originally published in Upward,
the official magazine of the ISS National Lab.
