Spaceflight effects on consecutive generations of peas grown onboard the Russian segment of the International Space Station

In the period from March 2003 to April 2005 we fulfilled five experimental cultivations of genetically marked dwarf pea species in greenhouse Lada installed in the Russian segment (RS) of the International Space Station (ISS). The purpose of this series of experiments was to make morphologic and gen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta astronautica 2007-02, Vol.60 (4), p.426-432
Main Authors: Sychev, Vladimir N., Levinskikh, Margarita A., Gostimsky, Sergey A., Bingham, Gail E., Podolsky, Igor G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chromosome aberration
Crops
Genetic polymorphism
Genetics
Greenhouses
Grounds
International Space Station
Lada greenhouse
Pea
Seeds
Segments
Space flight
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Summary:In the period from March 2003 to April 2005 we fulfilled five experimental cultivations of genetically marked dwarf pea species in greenhouse Lada installed in the Russian segment (RS) of the International Space Station (ISS). The purpose of this series of experiments was to make morphologic and genetic analysis of pea plants grown in successive generations. According to our results, pea growth and development over the full cycle of ontogenesis (from seed to seed) taking place in space greenhouse Lada were not different as compared with the ground control plants. In addition, four successive pea crops gathered in space flight did not loose their reproductive functions and formed viable seeds. Genetic analysis of the plants grown from the “space” and “ground” seeds produced by the first to fourth successive crops was performed using the methods of chromosomal aberrations count and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (molecular method). No genetic polymorphism was found either in the experimental or control crops. This can serve as a sound argument for the supposition that the genetic apparatus of plants is not impacted by exposure of several successive generations to the conditions of space flight.
ISSN:0094-5765
1879-2030
DOI:10.1016/j.actaastro.2006.09.009