Abstract
The growth and morphogenesis of plants are entirely dependent on the gravitational acceleration of earth. Under microgravity conditions in space, these processes are greatly modified. Recent space experiments, in combination with ground-based studies, have shown that elongation growth is stimulated and lateral expansion suppressed in various shoot organs and roots under microgravity conditions. Plant organs also show automorphogenesis in space, which consists of altered growth direction and spontaneous curvature in the dorsiventral (back and front) directions. Changes in cell wall properties are responsible for these modifications of growth and morphogenesis under microgravity conditions. Plants live in space with interesting new sizes and forms.
Highlights
A plant must be of the proper size and form to perform efficient physiological and biochemical processes
Plants are surrounded by a great variety of environmental signals, such as light, gravity, temperature, and water, which strongly influence their processes of growth and morphogenesis
The convex sides contained lower levels of cell wall polysaccharides with lower molecular masses, as well as higher breakdown activities, than did the concave sides. These results suggest that the uneven modifications of cell wall polysaccharide metabolism cause the automorphic curvature in rice coleoptiles under microgravity conditions
Summary
A plant must be of the proper size and form to perform efficient physiological and biochemical processes. The regulation of growth for size and of morphogenesis for form, is very important for plant life. Because the form of the whole plant reflects the sum of the rates and directions of growth for different parts, the growth and morphogenesis are tightly associated with each other. Plant growth and morphogenesis are fundamentally regulated by a genetic program, as is the case in animals. Plants are surrounded by a great variety of environmental signals, such as light, gravity, temperature, and water, which strongly influence their processes of growth and morphogenesis. We predict that plant growth and morphogenesis will be greatly modified under space conditions
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