Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (13)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kuang, A.
Right arrow Articles by Musgrave, M. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kuang, A.
Right arrow Articles by Musgrave, M. E.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Kuang, A.
Right arrow Articles by Musgrave, M. E.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Annals of Botany 85: 851-859, 2000
© 2000 Annals of Botany Company

Influence of Microgravity on Ultrastructure and Storage Reserves in Seeds of Brassica rapa L.

Anxiu Kuang, Ying Xiao, Gloria McClure and Mary E. Musgrave+

Department of Biology, The University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX 78539, USA Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology, Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA

Received: 12 January 2000 ; Returned for revision: 2 February 2000 . Accepted: 23 February 2000

Successful plant reproduction under spaceflight conditions has been problematic in the past. During a 122 d opportunity on the Mir space station, full life cycles of Brassica rapa L. were completed in microgravity in a series of three experiments in the Svet greenhouse. Ultrastructural and cytochemical analyses of storage reserves in mature dry seeds produced in these experiments were compared with those of seeds produced during a high-fidelity ground control. Additional analyses were performed on developing Brassica embryos, 15 d post pollination, which were produced during a separate experiment on the Shuttle (STS-87). Seeds produced on Mir had less than 20% of the cotyledon cell number found in seeds harvested from the ground control. Cytochemical localization of storage reserves in mature cotyledons showed that starch was retained in the spaceflight material, whereas protein and lipid were the primary storage reserves in ground control seeds. Protein bodies in mature cotyledons produced in space were 44% smaller than those in the ground control seeds. Fifteen days after pollination, cotyledon cells from mature embryos formed in space had large numbers of starch grains, and protein bodies were absent, while in developing ground control seeds at the same stage, protein bodies had already formed and fewer starch grains were evident. These data suggest that both the late stage of seed development and maturation are changed in Brassica by growth in a microgravity environment. While gravity is not absolutely required for any step in the plant life cycle, seed quality inBrassica is compromised by development in microgravity. Copyright 2000 Annals of Botany Company

Brassica, seed development, spaceflight, microgravity, protein bodies, starch, storage reserves


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J Exp BotHome page
M. E. Cook and J. G. Croxdale
Ultrastructure of potato tubers formed in microgravity under controlled environmental conditions
J. Exp. Bot., September 1, 2003; 54(390): 2157 - 2164.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.