Ruyters G, Braun M
German Space Administration (DLR), Bonn, Germany.
Plant Biol (Stuttg). 2014 Jan;16 Suppl 1:4-11. doi: 10.1111/plb.12127.
Gravity has shaped the evolution of life since its origin. However, experiments in the absence of this overriding force, necessary to precisely analyse its role, e.g. for growth, development, and orientation of plants and single cells, only became possible with the advent of spaceflight. Consequently, this research has been supported especially by space agencies around the world for decades, mainly for two reasons: first, to enable fundamental research on gravity perception and transduction during growth and development of plants; and second, to successfully grow plants under microgravity conditions with the goal of establishing a bioregenerative life support system providing oxygen and food for astronauts in long-term exploratory missions. For the second time, the International Space Life Sciences Working Group (ISLSWG), comprised of space agencies with substantial life sciences programmes in the world, organised a workshop on plant biology research in space. The present contribution summarises the outcome of this workshop. In the first part, an analysis is undertaken, if and how the recommendations of the first workshop held in Bad Honnef, Germany, in 1996 have been implemented. A chapter summarising major scientific breakthroughs obtained in the last 15 years from plant research in space concludes this first part. In the second part, recommendations for future research in plant biology in space are put together that have been elaborated in the various discussion sessions during the workshop, as well as provided in written statements from the session chairs. The present paper clearly shows that plant biology in space has contributed significantly to progress in plant gravity perception, transduction and responses - processes also relevant for general plant biology, including agricultural aspects. In addition, the interplay between light and gravity effects has increasingly received attention. It also became evident that plants will play a major role as components of bioregenerative life support and energy systems that are necessary to complement physico-chemical systems in upcoming long-term exploratory missions. In order to achieve major progress in the future, however, standardised experimental conditions and more advanced analytical tools, such as state-of-the-art onboard analysis, are required.
自生命起源以来，重力就影响着生命的进化。然而，只有随着太空飞行的出现，才有可能在没有这种压倒性力量的情况下进行实验，以便精确分析其作用，例如对植物和单细胞的生长、发育和定向的影响。因此，几十年来，这项研究一直得到世界各国航天局的特别支持，主要有两个原因：第一，以便对植物生长和发育过程中的重力感知和传导进行基础研究；第二，在微重力条件下成功种植植物，目标是建立一个生物再生生命支持系统，为长期探索任务中的宇航员提供氧气和食物。由世界上拥有大量生命科学项目的航天局组成的国际空间生命科学工作组（ISLSWG）第二次组织了关于太空植物生物学研究的研讨会。本论文总结了此次研讨会的成果。在第一部分，分析了1996年在德国巴特洪内夫举行的第一次研讨会的建议是否以及如何得到实施。第一部分以一章总结了过去15年太空植物研究取得的主要科学突破作为结尾。在第二部分，汇总了在研讨会期间各次讨论会上详细阐述的以及会议主席书面发言中提供的关于未来太空植物生物学研究的建议。本文清楚地表明，太空植物生物学对植物重力感知、传导和反应方面的进展做出了重大贡献——这些过程对包括农业方面在内的一般植物生物学也很重要。此外，光和重力效应之间的相互作用越来越受到关注。同样明显的是，在即将到来的长期探索任务中，植物作为生物再生生命支持和能量系统的组成部分将发挥重要作用，而这些系统是补充物理化学系统所必需的。然而，为了在未来取得重大进展，需要标准化的实验条件和更先进的分析工具，如最先进的机载分析工具。
