
via NASA
With scarce nutrients and weak gravity, growing potatoes on the Moon or on other planets seems unimaginable. But the plant hormone strigolactone could make it possible, plant biologists from the University of Zurich have shown. The hormone supports the symbiosis between fungi and plant roots, thus encouraging plants’ growth – even under the challenging conditions found in space.
The idea has been bounced around for a while now – and not just by the likes of NASA, but also by private entrepreneurs such as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk: that of one day establishing colonies for people to live on the Moon or on other planets. Such visions, as well as the prospect of long-term human space expeditions in the future, raise the question of how to sustainably provide food for the people in space. One possible answer is to cultivate crops in situ under controlled conditions. However, the soils on the Moon and on other planets are surely lower in nutrients compared to our agricultural land. The alternative – transporting nutrient-rich soil and fertilizers up into space – comes with a high economic and ecological cost.
Plant-fungal symbiosis promotes plant growth
When looking for a possible solution, the research group working with Lorenzo Borghi of the University of Zurich and Marcel Egli of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts concentrated on the process of mycorrhiza, a symbiotic association between fungi and plant roots. In this symbiosis, the fungal hyphae supply the plant roots with additional water, nitrogen, phosphates and trace elements from the ground. In return they get access to sugar and fat produced by the plant. This symbiosis is stimulated by hormones of the strigolactone family, which most plants secrete into the soil around their roots. The process of mycorrhization can greatly increase plant growth and thereby substantially improve crop yields – especially in soil that is low in nutrients.
Absence of gravity impedes mycorrhization
In space, cultivated plants would not just have to contend with low-nutrient soil, but also with conditions of microgravity, i.e. almost zero gravity. In order to investigate the influence of such an environment on plant growth, the researchers cultivated petunias and mycorrhizal fungi under simulated low gravity conditions. Petunias provide a model organism for plants of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), which include for example tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants.
The experiments revealed that microgravity hindered the mycorrhization and thus reduced the petunias’ uptake of nutrients from the soil. But the plant hormone strigolactone can counteract this negative effect. Plants that secreted high levels of strigolactone and fungi which the researchers had treated with a synthetic strigolactone hormone were able to thrive in the low-nutrient soil despite the microgravity conditions.
Best practice for food production in space
“In order to get crops such as tomatoes and potatoes to grow in the challenging conditions of space, it is necessary to encourage the formation of mycorrhiza,” summarizes research leader Lorenzo Borghi. “This seems to be possible using the strigolactone hormone. Our findings may therefore pave the way for the successful cultivation in space of the types of plants that we grow on Earth.”
Learn more: Plant Hormone Makes Space Farming a Possibility
The Latest on: Space farming
[google_news title=”” keyword=”space farming” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Space farming
- 10 Best Farming Games On Nintendo Switchon March 30, 2023 at 7:05 am
Plus, even without your input, your farm progresses in real-time, so you'll always have something cool to do once you return. Come, hang out, and watch your ambitions bloom. Ranching, but in space.
- 2023 Precision Livestock Farming Market Insightful Analysis of Top Companies, Future Projections, and Competitive Landscapeon March 30, 2023 at 6:17 am
- Does this report consider the impact of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war on the Precision Livestock Farming market? Yes. As the COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war are profoundly affecting the ...
- Why we must end factory farming before it is too lateon March 30, 2023 at 2:54 am
Why should we end factory farming? It is responsible for extreme animal cruelty, pollution, wildlife extinction and global hunger ...
- Female pioneers expanded access for women in space. Now we're doing it for everyone else.on March 30, 2023 at 2:00 am
Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will be the first woman to command a private mission to the International Space Station with Axiom Space.
- Conservationists' Fingers Crossed Shyamalan Preserves Willistown Farmon March 29, 2023 at 7:35 pm
Night Shyamalan purchased the 218-acre Kirkwood Farm, and hope reports that he intends to preserve the farm as open space come true, the president of a preservationist group said this week. “We are ...
- What Do Americans Want to See in the 2023 Farm Bill?on March 29, 2023 at 12:07 pm
A study released by Farm Bureau finds 86% of Americans are concerned about food insecurity, but their trust in farmers remains high at 89%. (Farm Journal) American Farm Bureau Federation released a ...
- This Earth Day, Don’t Forget About Spaceon March 28, 2023 at 5:45 am
By bringing together the public and private sectors and by working with other countries, space innovation and technology transfers can pick up speed.
- Massive warehouses planned for Lionville Station Farm land in Uwchlan near Route 100 in Chester Countyon March 27, 2023 at 6:17 pm
Community members are protesting preliminary plans to build 1.96 million square feet of warehouse space to the north of the turnpike on a 237-acre tract, at the former Siemens property, at ...
- UT Tyler one step closer to sending plants to spaceon March 27, 2023 at 4:39 pm
The Crop-FIT for space farming is comparable to a fitness watch, but for plants. “They can detect this hormonal radiations in real time so by looking at this radiations when this hormonal, hormones go ...
via Bing News