Scientists testing how plants grow without gravity

Researchers are planning to test how plants sense their growth direction in the absence of gravity in space.
Investigators with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will conduct a second run of the Plant Gravity Sensing study after new supplies are delivered to the International Space Station (ISS).
The research team seeks to determine how plants sense their growth direction without gravity, NASA said.
The study results may have implications for higher crop yield in farming and for cultivating plants for long-duration space missions.
The investigation examines the cellular process of formation in thale cress, or Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering plant related to cabbage.

The genetic makeup of thale cress is simple and well-understood by the plant biology community. This knowledge allows scientists to easily recognise changes that occur as a result of microgravity adaptation.

Since thale cress is considered a model organism for biological research, there are genetic similarities that may reveal insights into human health.
This could impact medical science since research teams may gain a better understanding of mechanisms of diseases affected by gravity, such as osteoporosis and muscle loss.
In the study, scientists examine whether the mechanisms of the plant that determine its growth direction - the gravity sensor - form in the absence of gravity.

The team analyses how concentrations of calcium behave in the cells of plants originally grown in microgravity when later exposed to a 1g environment, or gravity similar to that on Earth.
Plant calcium concentrations have been shown to change in response to temperature and touch and adapt to the direction of gravity on Earth.
"Plants cultivated in space are not experienced with gravity or the direction of gravity and may not be able to form gravity sensors that respond to the specific direction of gravity changes," said Hitoshi Tatsumi, principal investigator of the Plant Gravity Sensing investigation and associate professor at Nagoya University in Nagoya.

If the study hypothesis is proven true, it may be possible to modify plant gravity sensing mechanisms on Earth or to cultivate healthy plants for consumption on future deep space missions or conceivably on other planets.