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Romano D, Di Giovanni A, Pucciariello C, Stefanini C. Turning earthworms into moonworms: Earthworms colonization of lunar regolith as a bioengineering approach supporting future crop growth in space. Heliyon 2023; 9:e14683. [PMID: 37020940 PMCID: PMC10068126 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14683] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The earthworms beneficial effects on soils may be promising to improve lunar soil fertility, enabling the use of local substrates for space farming. Herein, we investigated the effects of the lunar regolith simulant (LHS-1) at different concentrations in cow manure mixtures on the survival and fitness of Eisenia fetida. During 14 and 60-day experiments, although E. fetida showed an increased mortality with LHS-1 alone, most of the population survived. More numerous tunnels were observed when exposed to the higher concentrations of LHS-1 (poor in nutrients for earthworms). This may be related to an increased mobility for food search. The cocoons production was not affected by different substrate treatments, except for the highest concentration of LHS-1. No effects of different LHS-1 concentrations on the amount of ingested substrate were recorded. This study shows that E. fetida can potentially colonize lunar regolith representing a future valuable biological tool for supporting crops growth on the Moon.
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Visscher AM, Pritchard HW, Neri G, Ballesteros D. How do we transport plant species with desiccation-sensitive germplasm in space? Life Sci Space Res (Amst) 2023; 36:135-137. [PMID: 36682822 DOI: 10.1016/j.lssr.2022.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Revised: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Many useful plant species with potential for plant-based bioregenerative life support systems produce extremophile seeds with tolerance to multiple stressors, including desiccation, which allows for their transport through space in a dried state. However, other valuable species produce desiccation-sensitive seeds or are propagated clonally, and life sciences research in space has not yet addressed the challenge of alternative transport methods in microgravity for such material. Although liquid nitrogen storage is used on Earth for desiccation-sensitive germplasm, it poses atmospheric leakage problems to crewed spacecraft and therefore liquid nitrogen-free cryogenic freezing could be an alternative. Another promising approach is slow growth tissue culture, with subculture intervals extended to months or years through the precise control of the culture environment. Whilst the design of innovative systems for the transport of species with desiccation-sensitive germplasm will be demanding, the prospect still remains for their successful growth beyond Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne M Visscher
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wakehurst, Ardingly, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH17 6TN, United Kingdom.
| | - Hugh W Pritchard
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wakehurst, Ardingly, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH17 6TN, United Kingdom; CryoLetters LLP, Lewes, East Sussex BN71QE, United Kingdom
| | - Gianluca Neri
- Kayser Space Ltd. Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Building R104, Fermi Avenue, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel Ballesteros
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wakehurst, Ardingly, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH17 6TN, United Kingdom; Department of Botany and Geology, Universitat de València, Av. Vicent Andrés Estellés s/n, Burjassot, Valencia 46100, Spain
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Xiong H, Guo H, Xie Y, Zhao L, Gu J, Zhao S, Li J, Liu L. RNAseq analysis reveals pathways and candidate genes associated with salinity tolerance in a spaceflight-induced wheat mutant. Sci Rep 2017. [PMID: 28578401 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-41017-03024-41590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Salinity stress has become an increasing threat to food security worldwide and elucidation of the mechanism for salinity tolerance is of great significance. Induced mutation, especially spaceflight mutagenesis, is one important method for crop breeding. In this study, we show that a spaceflight-induced wheat mutant, named salinity tolerance 1 (st1), is a salinity-tolerant line. We report the characteristics of transcriptomic sequence variation induced by spaceflight, and show that mutations in genes associated with sodium ion transport may directly contribute to salinity tolerance in st1. Furthermore, GO and KEGG enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between salinity-treated st1 and wild type suggested that the homeostasis of oxidation-reduction process is important for salt tolerance in st1. Through KEGG pathway analysis, "Butanoate metabolism" was identified as a new pathway for salinity responses. Additionally, key genes for salinity tolerance, such as genes encoding arginine decarboxylase, polyamine oxidase, hormones-related, were not only salt-induced in st1 but also showed higher expression in salt-treated st1 compared with salt-treated WT, indicating that these genes may play important roles in salinity tolerance in st1. This study presents valuable genetic resources for studies on transcriptome variation caused by induced mutation and the identification of salt tolerance genes in crops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongchun Xiong
- Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, National Center of Space Mutagenesis for Crop Improvement, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Huijun Guo
- Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, National Center of Space Mutagenesis for Crop Improvement, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Yongdun Xie
- Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, National Center of Space Mutagenesis for Crop Improvement, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Linshu Zhao
- Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, National Center of Space Mutagenesis for Crop Improvement, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Jiayu Gu
- Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, National Center of Space Mutagenesis for Crop Improvement, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Shirong Zhao
- Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, National Center of Space Mutagenesis for Crop Improvement, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Junhui Li
- Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, National Center of Space Mutagenesis for Crop Improvement, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Luxiang Liu
- Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, National Center of Space Mutagenesis for Crop Improvement, Beijing, 100081, China.
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Xiong H, Guo H, Xie Y, Zhao L, Gu J, Zhao S, Li J, Liu L. RNAseq analysis reveals pathways and candidate genes associated with salinity tolerance in a spaceflight-induced wheat mutant. Sci Rep 2017; 7:2731. [PMID: 28578401 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-03024-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2016] [Accepted: 04/20/2017] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Salinity stress has become an increasing threat to food security worldwide and elucidation of the mechanism for salinity tolerance is of great significance. Induced mutation, especially spaceflight mutagenesis, is one important method for crop breeding. In this study, we show that a spaceflight-induced wheat mutant, named salinity tolerance 1 (st1), is a salinity-tolerant line. We report the characteristics of transcriptomic sequence variation induced by spaceflight, and show that mutations in genes associated with sodium ion transport may directly contribute to salinity tolerance in st1. Furthermore, GO and KEGG enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between salinity-treated st1 and wild type suggested that the homeostasis of oxidation-reduction process is important for salt tolerance in st1. Through KEGG pathway analysis, "Butanoate metabolism" was identified as a new pathway for salinity responses. Additionally, key genes for salinity tolerance, such as genes encoding arginine decarboxylase, polyamine oxidase, hormones-related, were not only salt-induced in st1 but also showed higher expression in salt-treated st1 compared with salt-treated WT, indicating that these genes may play important roles in salinity tolerance in st1. This study presents valuable genetic resources for studies on transcriptome variation caused by induced mutation and the identification of salt tolerance genes in crops.
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Yang J, Shen S, Zhang T, Chen GD, Liu H, Ma XB, Chen WY, Peng ZS. Morphological variation of mutant sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) induced by space flight and their genetic background detection by SSR primers. Genet Mol Res 2012; 11:3379-88. [PMID: 23079831 DOI: 10.4238/2012.september.25.6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
After sunflower seeds were exposed to space conditions, various mutant plants were screened from the descendent plants. The morphological characters of plants changed in flower color from golden to yellow, light yellow, or even to yellowish green. The ligulate petals of the unisexual floret broadened, or became thin, while the short tubular petals of bisexual floret elongated to some extent, or even turned into semi-ligulate petals or ligulate petals, making the phenotype of the whole inflorescence like a chrysanthemum. The shape and thickness of leaves varied in some of these plants. Absolute sterile plants in mutant plants were found to possess neither normal bisexual florets nor unisexual florets, but the "pseudo-floret" only consisted of pieces of shield-like bracts on protuberant floral disc. Thirty-five pairs of simple sequence of repeat primers were used to detect the genetic variation of the plants, and the results showed that only a variation was tested in the mutant plants from 4 primers. The different PCR products obtained were extracted for sequencing and alignment analysis, and the aligned results showed that the DNA sequence changed by deletion, insertion and replacement that occurred at some sites. The results proved the high mutagenic efficacy of space flight, and ways of DNA transformation due to space conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Yang
- Institute of Rare Animals and Plants, China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, China.
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Paul AL, Zupanska AK, Ostrow DT, Zhang Y, Sun Y, Li JL, Shanker S, Farmerie WG, Amalfitano CE, Ferl RJ. Spaceflight transcriptomes: unique responses to a novel environment. Astrobiology 2012; 12:40-56. [PMID: 22221117 PMCID: PMC3264962 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2011.0696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2011] [Accepted: 10/08/2011] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
The spaceflight environment presents unique challenges to terrestrial biology, including but not limited to the direct effects of gravity. As we near the end of the Space Shuttle era, there remain fundamental questions about the response and adaptation of plants to orbital spaceflight conditions. We address a key baseline question of whether gene expression changes are induced by the orbital environment, and then we ask whether undifferentiated cells, cells presumably lacking the typical gravity response mechanisms, perceive spaceflight. Arabidopsis seedlings and undifferentiated cultured Arabidopsis cells were launched in April, 2010, as part of the BRIC-16 flight experiment on STS-131. Biologically replicated DNA microarray and averaged RNA digital transcript profiling revealed several hundred genes in seedlings and cell cultures that were significantly affected by launch and spaceflight. The response was moderate in seedlings; only a few genes were induced by more than 7-fold, and the overall intrinsic expression level for most differentially expressed genes was low. In contrast, cell cultures displayed a more dramatic response, with dozens of genes showing this level of differential expression, a list comprised primarily of heat shock-related and stress-related genes. This baseline transcriptome profiling of seedlings and cultured cells confirms the fundamental hypothesis that survival of the spaceflight environment requires adaptive changes that are both governed and displayed by alterations in gene expression. The comparison of intact plants with cultures of undifferentiated cells confirms a second hypothesis: undifferentiated cells can detect spaceflight in the absence of specialized tissue or organized developmental structures known to detect gravity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna-Lisa Paul
- Horticultural Sciences and Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
| | | | | | | | - Yijun Sun
- University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
| | | | | | | | | | - Robert J. Ferl
- Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology and Research, Horticultural Sciences and Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
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Abstract
Recent plans for human return to the Moon have significantly elevated scientific interest in the lunar environment with emphasis on the science to be done in preparation for the return and while on the lunar surface. Since the return to the Moon is envisioned as a dedicated and potentially longer-term commitment to lunar exploration, questions of the lunar environment and particularly its impact on biology and biological systems have become a significant part of the lunar science discussion. Plants are integral to the discussion of biology on the Moon. Plants are envisioned as important components of advanced habitats and fundamental components of advanced life-support systems. Moreover, plants are sophisticated multicellular eukaryotic life-forms with highly orchestrated developmental processes, well-characterized signal transduction pathways, and exceedingly fine-tuned responses to their environments. Therefore, plants represent key test organisms for understanding the biological impact of the lunar environment on terrestrial life-forms. Indeed, plants were among the initial and primary organisms that were exposed to returned lunar regolith from the Apollo lunar missions. This review discusses the original experiments involving plants in association with the Apollo samples, with the intent of understanding those studies within the context of the first lunar exploration program and drawing from those experiments the data to inform the studies critical within the next lunar exploration science agenda.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert J Ferl
- University of Florida, Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research and the Horticultural Sciences Department, PO Box 110690, Gainesville, FL 3201-0690, USA.
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