The microgravity on Mars and the hypergravity of exoplanets will alter the normal growth of terrestrial plants that may travel there in the future, according to two studies coordinated by the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC).
According to a statement from CSIC itself, its cell division would occur " prematurely " and originate smaller cells , as these experiments have shown, developed in simulated conditions of microgravity and partial gravity similar to those experienced by plants and astronauts Take them with you during your future exploration of Mars or even outside the Solar System.
The studies have been coordinated by the researcher Raúl Herranz at the Center for Biological Research, within the international collaboration projects funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), and have been published in separate articles of the magazines ' NPJMicrogravity 'and' Scientific Reports' .
For the first experiment, the scientists used small seedlings of 'Arabidopsis thaliana', says the expert in botany and cell biology Javier Medina, who added that the new ground simulators were used to reproduce the gravityof both the Moon - a sixth of the terrestrial one - as of Mars - a third.
This plant was already used for other research that Medina's team carried out in the International Special Station and where he verified the " important derangements " caused by the absence of gravity in the rate of division and growth of its meristematic cells, the stem cells of the plants.
For the second experiment, a series of cell cultures of plants was studied , which allowed to analyze the alterations in their rate of proliferation.
Scientists have stressed that the results obtained in simulators can only be validated through real microgravity studies but "it is evident that they can be applied to the improvement of the growth conditions of the plants that will be part of the life support system in space travel" , for food and psychological well-being of astronauts.
The experiments have been developed at the facilities of the European Space Agency (ESA) where it has been possible to simulate the effects of microgravity and partial gravity experienced by astronauts and the plants that travel with them.
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