Survivor Space: Extreme Plant Adaptation

Which plants have the best chance of surviving in space?

That’s the question lead researchers Anna-Lisa Paul and Robert Ferl are addressing in the investigation of epigenetic adaptation to the spaceflight environment – Accumulated genomic change induced by generations in space ( Plant Habitat-03), soon to be launched to the International Space Station aboard Northrop Grumman’s 18th commercial resupply services mission for NASA.

From one generation to another?

This investigation will take advantage of the unique environment aboard the space station to investigate an intriguing phenomenon. When exposed to environmental stresses, such as spaceflight, plants undergo surprising epigenetic changes. This means that instead of modifying the existing information in the DNA, additional information is added which affects gene expression.

What remains unknown and untested is whether these changes remain constant across plant generations, like the adaptive changes that occur in land plant stresses.

With Plant Habitat-03, seeds of terrestrial plants will be grown aboard the space station, harvested in orbit, and returned to Earth. These seeds will then be reflown with comparable seeds that have not been flown in space before to see if the epigenetic changes from affected spaceflight result in the next generation of spaceborne plants.

This process will give researchers insight into how plants adapt in space from one generation to the next.

Advantages of adaptive plants

Evolution of plants on Earth can take thousands of years, but research aboard the station aims to see if plants could adapt quickly via epigenetic changes from generation to generation in the environment of microgravity.

By understanding the effects of extreme environments on plants, scientists will be able to determine whether a growing generation of plants in space can create subsequent generations of plants with a similar adaptive advantage.

“Plant Habitat-03 will provide a better understanding of how the epigenome contributes to an organism’s ability to adapt to environmental stress, in current and future generations,” according to Sharmila Bhattacharya, Space Biology Program Scientist at NASA’s Division of Biological and Physical Sciences at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“This is an important insight into how astronauts could potentially grow repeat generations of crops in orbit as well as on the Moon or Mars to provide food and other services aboard future space missions. The findings may also support the development of strategies to adapt crops to growing in extreme environments on Earth.”

This survey, among many other research initiatives, will allow scientists to better understand how biological phenomena respond to extreme conditions in space. This information is essential as NASA prepares for future human exploration, including the agency’s Artemis missions that will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future expeditions to Mars.