Abstract
Spaceflight has an impact on the growth and development of higher plants at both the vegetative stage and reproductive stage. A great deal of information has been available on the vegetative stage in space, but relatively little is known about the influence of spaceflight on plants at the reproductive stage. In this study, we constructed transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants expressing the flowering control gene, FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), together with the green fluorescent protein gene (GFP) under control of a heat shock-inducible promoter (HSP17.4), by which we induced FT expression inflight through remote controlling heat shock (HS) treatment. Inflight photography data showed that induction of FT expression in transgenic plants in space under non-inductive short-day conditions could promote flowering and reduce the length of the inflorescence stem in comparison with that of wild-type plants under the same conditions. Whole-genome microarray analysis of gene expression changes in leaves of wild-type and these transgenic plants grown under the long-day and short-day photoperiod conditions in space indicated that the function of the photoperiod-related spaceflight responsive genes is mainly involved in protein synthesis and post-translation protein modulation, notably protein phosphorylation. In addition, changes of the circadian component of gene expression in response to spaceflight under different photoperiods indicated that roles of the circadian oscillator could act as integrators of spaceflight response and photoperiodic signals in Arabidopsis plants grown in space.
Highlights
Spaceflight conditions, including microgravity, could cause an impact on growth and development of higher plants at both the vegetative stage and the reproductive stage
We revealed: 1) plant response to spaceflight at transcriptional levels is associated with the daylength conditions. 2) daylength-related spaceflight response could be involved in the alteration of transcriptional activity in protein synthesis and post-translation protein modulation, notably protein phosphorylation
3) Expression of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) in Arabidopsis leaves by heat shock (HS) induction under the SD condition in space can alter the expression of gene function in the cellular metabolic process and/or the abiotic stimulus
Summary
Spaceflight conditions, including microgravity, could cause an impact on growth and development of higher plants at both the vegetative stage and the reproductive stage. The seedto-seed cycle of several plants in space was achieved (Link et al, 2003; Sychev et al, 2003; Link et al, 2014). These results indicated that plants could adapt to spaceflight for seed-toseed growth, but reproductive fitness was often reduced in space (De Micco, et al, 2014). Interruption of the reproductive process, delay in the completion of a single reproductive phase, the lowering of reproductive success and alteration of seed reserves are still major bottlenecks to maximizing the efficiency of plant growth and reproduction in space, as well as to be used to support life in long-term manned missions (Hoson et al, 2014; reviewed by; Zheng 2018)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
