What have we learned about phototropism from spaceflight experiments? Novel responses to light discovered during the Seedling Growth project on the ISS.

In response to external stimuli, plants exhibit directed growth responses termed tropisms. Phototropism is directed growth of plants in response to light while gravitropism is the tropistic movement of plants in response to gravity. The integration of these tropisms (along with other growth movements) results in the overall growth form of the plant. Utilizing the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) on the International Space Station (ISS), we were able to decouple phototropism from the effects of gravitropism. The Seedling Growth (SG-1, 2, 3) series of experiments employed the centrifuge in the EMCS to create fractional/reduced gravity environments (0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8 and 1g) to help discern the relationship between the phototropic response and gravitropism in seedlings of Arabidopsis thaliana. In SG, seedlings were exposed to continuous red light, continuous blue light, and red-to-blue light cycles at various gravity levels in order to characterize the phototropic response. Image downlinks from the ISS allowed for analysis of growth and curvature measurements under differential light and gravity conditions. Previous results from our space experiments identified a unique red-light-based phototropism in roots and shoots. The most recent results from SG-1 and SG-2 (2015) reveal a novel positive phototropic curvature in roots of seedlings illuminated with blue light under microgravity conditions. In addition, a positive phototropic response of roots and shoots exposed to red light was observed in microgravity, confirming our previous observations. The phototropic response of shoots to blue light appears to be largely unaffected by fractional gravity. In addition to the WT (Landsberg ecotype), phytochrome A and B mutants were utilized to elucidate the role phytochromes play in blue and red light perception and the resulting phototropic responses. Understanding the relationship between phototropic and gravitropic responses is an important first step in being able to optimize plant growth onboard the ISS, during long distance space travel, and in future attempts at interplanetary colonization. Supported by NASA grant NNX12AO65G.