20150816 - plants in space

Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity

New finding boosts the prospect of growing crops in space or on other planets.

By James Owen, for National Geographic News

PUBLISHED December 07, 2012

When researchers sent plants to the International Space Station in 2010, the flora wasn't meant to be decorative. Instead, the seeds of these small, white flowers—called Arabidopsis thaliana—were the subject of an experiment to study how plant roots developed in a weightless environment.

Gravity is an important influence on root growth, but the scientists found that their space plants didn't need it to flourish. The research team from the University of Florida in Gainesville thinks this ability is related to a plant's inherent ability to orient itself as it grows. Seeds germinated on the International Space Station sprouted roots that behaved like they would on Earth—growing away from the seed to seek nutrients and water in exactly the same pattern observed with gravity. (Related: "Beyond Gravity.")


 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/121207-plants-grow-space-station-science/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plants_in_space
 http://www.nsbri.org/plants-in-space/