Joshua P Vandenbrink1,2, Raul Herranz3, William L Poehlman4, F Alex Feltus4, Alicia Villacampa3, Malgorzata Ciska3, F Javier Medina3, John Z Kiss2. 1. School of Biological Sciences, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA, 71272, USA. 2. Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, 27402, USA. 3. Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CSIC), Madrid, E28040, Spain. 4. Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA.
Abstract
PREMISE: Plants synthesize information from multiple environmental stimuli when determining their direction of growth. Gravity, being ubiquitous on Earth, plays a major role in determining the direction of growth and overall architecture of the plant. Here, we utilized the microgravity environment on board the International Space Station (ISS) to identify genes involved influencing growth and development of phototropically stimulated seedlings of Arabidopsis thaliana. METHODS: Seedlings were grown on the ISS, and RNA was extracted from 7 samples (pools of 10-15 plants) grown in microgravity (μg) or Earth gravity conditions (1-g). Transcriptomic analyses via RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of differential gene expression was performed using the HISAT2-Stringtie-DESeq2 RNASeq pipeline. Differentially expressed genes were further characterized by using Pathway Analysis and enrichment for Gene Ontology classifications. RESULTS: For 296 genes that were found significantly differentially expressed between plants in microgravity compared to 1-g controls, Pathway Analysis identified eight molecular pathways that were significantly affected by reduced gravity conditions. Specifically, light-associated pathways (e.g., photosynthesis-antenna proteins, photosynthesis, porphyrin, and chlorophyll metabolism) were significantly downregulated in microgravity. CONCLUSIONS: Gene expression in A. thaliana seedlings grown in microgravity was significantly altered compared to that of the 1-g control. Understanding how plants grow in conditions of microgravity not only aids in our understanding of how plants grow and respond to the environment but will also help to efficiently grow plants during long-range space missions.
PREMISE: Plants synthesize information from multiple environmental stimuli when determining their direction of growth. Gravity, being ubiquitous on Earth, plays a major role in determining the direction of growth and overall architecture of the plant. Here, we utilized the microgravity environment on board the International Space Station (ISS) to identify genes involved influencing growth and development of phototropically stimulated seedlings of Arabidopsis thaliana. METHODS: Seedlings were grown on the ISS, and RNA was extracted from 7 samples (pools of 10-15 plants) grown in microgravity (μg) or Earth gravity conditions (1-g). Transcriptomic analyses via RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of differential gene expression was performed using the HISAT2-Stringtie-DESeq2 RNASeq pipeline. Differentially expressed genes were further characterized by using Pathway Analysis and enrichment for Gene Ontology classifications. RESULTS: For 296 genes that were found significantly differentially expressed between plants in microgravity compared to 1-g controls, Pathway Analysis identified eight molecular pathways that were significantly affected by reduced gravity conditions. Specifically, light-associated pathways (e.g., photosynthesis-antenna proteins, photosynthesis, porphyrin, and chlorophyll metabolism) were significantly downregulated in microgravity. CONCLUSIONS: Gene expression in A. thaliana seedlings grown in microgravity was significantly altered compared to that of the 1-g control. Understanding how plants grow in conditions of microgravity not only aids in our understanding of how plants grow and respond to the environment but will also help to efficiently grow plants during long-range space missions.
Authors: Raúl Herranz; Miguel A Valbuena; Aránzazu Manzano; Khaled Y Kamal; Alicia Villacampa; Malgorzata Ciska; Jack J W A van Loon; F Javier Medina Journal: Methods Mol Biol Date: 2022
Authors: Raúl Herranz; Joshua P Vandenbrink; Alicia Villacampa; Aránzazu Manzano; William L Poehlman; Frank Alex Feltus; John Z Kiss; Francisco Javier Medina Journal: Front Plant Sci Date: 2019-11-26 Impact factor: 5.753