Plant Cell Nucleolus, Proliferation and Microgravity

Plant growth in space is a necessary requirement for space exploration, with important influences in terrestrial agriculture. Gravity is an essential factor of the Earth's environment, conditioning the entire process of biological evolution, and the weightlessness existing in space produces considerable stress for plants, altering their growth and developmental patterns. With the purpose of achieving plant adaptation to space environment, we investigate alterations in cell proliferation and growth induced by changes in gravitational conditions. To this end, we study seedlings grown in space or in simulated microgravity or reduced gravity simulation devices, as well as in in vitro cell cultures, synchronized in the cell cycle. We evaluate parameters of the cell cycle and the biogenesis of ribosomes in meristematic cells, as well as global changes of gene expression using –omics techniques, and identifying relevant genes and pathways involved in adaptation.