Arabidopsis thaliana
The Model Organism
- First grown in space: 1982
- Spacecraft: Soviet Salyut 7 (Салют-7)
- Hardware: Fiton 3
- Grown by: USSR Space Program
- Purpose: Astrobotany Research, Genetics Research
- Data Repository: NASA OSDR – Arabidopsis thaliana
Arabidopsis thaliana (a.k.a. thale cress, mouse-ear cress) is a model organism for plant biology and genetics. Arabidopsis was the first plant to ever have its genome fully sequenced and also has a short life cycle. Hence, it is grown in space relatively often to gather important scientific data. Arabidopsis has been grown on the International Space Station and first flowered in 1982 aboard Soviet Salyut 7. Arabidopsis is critical to spaceflight plant biology research.
Arabidopsis thaliana was the first plant to flower and produce seeds in space. It is also one of the most common plants to be sent to space.
Use for Astrobotany
Arabidopsis thaliana is a critical plant for astrobotany research, just as it is critical for botany research. Arabidopsis‘ key attributes make it one of the most common plants grown in space, especially for transcriptomic research. Since Arabidopsis has a fully mapped genome, it offers insights into how plants respond to stressors of spaceflight on a molecular level. However, the same qualities that make it ideal for research make it essentially unusable as a source of food in space.
Key Attributes
- Small genome: 5 chromosomes, 27,000 genes
- First plant genome fully sequenced
- Small physical size saves space- Arabidopsis can be grown on Petri dishes or in small containers
- Rapid lifecycle – approximately 6 weeks
Additional Resources
- ABRC – Search for natural accessions and laboratory strains of Arabidopsis thaliana
- TAIR (The Arabidopsis Information Resource) – TAIR (arabidopsis.org) is the premier database for Arabidopsis thaliana molecular biology research. Use this site to find out more about the Arabidopsis genome, or use it to find gene-specific functions or T-DNA insertion lines.
- TAIR BLAST – This bioinformatic tool can be used to check flanking regions to design promoters and check for promoter length. It also has a robust visualization tool to see where the gene of interest is expressed in the plant.
Photo Gallery
- Response of Arabidopsis thaliana and Mizuna Mustard Seeds to Simulated Space Radiation Exposures
- Suppression of Cortical Microtubule Reorientation and Stimulation of Cell Elongation in Arabidopsis Hypocotyls under Microgravity Conditions in Space
- Network Analysis of Local Gene Regulators in Arabidopsis thaliana under Spaceflight Stress
- Relevance of the Unfolded Protein Response to Spaceflight-Induced Transcriptional Reprogramming in Arabidopsis
- Shared Metabolic Remodeling Processes Characterize the Transcriptome of Arabidopsis thaliana within Various Suborbital Flight Environments
- Arabidopsis flowering induced by photoperiod under 3-D clinostat rotational simulated microgravity
- Circumnutation and Growth of Inflorescence Stems of Arabidopsis thaliana in Response to Microgravity under Different Photoperiod Conditions
- Clinorotation Affects Induction of the Heat Shock Response in Arabidopsis thaliana Seedlings
- Growth and Development of Ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana: Preliminary Experiments to Prepare for a Moon Lander Mission
- Influences of Gravitational Intensity on the Transcriptional Landscape of Arabidopsis thaliana
- Root Skewing-Associated Genes Impact the Spaceflight Response of Arabidopsis thaliana
- Spaceflight induces novel regulatory responses in Arabidopsis seedling as revealed by combined proteomic and transcriptomic analyses
- Test of Arabidopsis Space Transcriptome: A Discovery Environment to Explore Multiple Plant Biology Spaceflight Experiments
- Epigenomics in an extraterrestrial environment: organ-specific alteration of DNA methylation and gene expression elicited by spaceflight in Arabidopsis thaliana
- RNAseq Analysis of the Response of Arabidopsis thaliana to Fractional Gravity Under Blue-Light Stimulation During Spaceflight
- Spaceflight-induced alternative splicing during seedling development in Arabidopsis thaliana
- Variation in the transcriptome of different ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana reveals signatures of oxidative stress in plant responses to spaceflight
- Comparing RNA ‐Seq and microarray gene expression data in two zones of the Arabidopsis root apex relevant to spaceflight
- Genetic dissection of the Arabidopsis spaceflight transcriptome: Are some responses dispensable for the physiological adaptation of plants to spaceflight?
- Single-base resolution methylome analysis shows epigenetic changes in Arabidopsis seedlings exposed to microgravity spaceflight conditions on board the SJ-10 recoverable satellite
- Analyses of Arabidopsis seedlings grown in microgravity
- A novel blue-light phototropic response is revealed in roots of Arabidopsis thaliana in microgravity
- Microarray Data Analysis of Space Grown Arabidopsis Leaves for Genes Important in Vascular Patterning
- Spaceflight Induces Specific Alterations in the Proteomes of Arabidopsis
- Transcriptional response of Arabidopsis seedlings during spaceflight reveals peroxidase and cell wall remodeling genes associated with root hair development
- Analysis of gene expression during parabolic flights reveals distinct early gravity responses in Arabidopsis roots
- Arabidopsis thaliana for spaceflight applications–preparing dormant biology for passive stowage and on orbit activation
- Microgravity Induces Changes in Microsome-Associated Proteins of Arabidopsis Seedlings Grown on Board the International Space Station
- Microsome-associated proteome modifications of Arabidopsis seedlings grown on board the International Space Station reveal the possible effect on plants of space stresses other than microgravity
- Seed-to-Seed-to-Seed Growth and Development of Arabidopsis in Microgravity
- A method for preparing spaceflight RNAlater‐fixed Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae) tissue for scanning electron microscopy
- Adaptation response of Arabidopsis thaliana to random positioning
- Organ-specific remodeling of the Arabidopsis transcriptome in response to spaceflight
- Spaceflight engages heat shock protein and other molecular chaperone genes in tissue culture cells of Arabidopsis thaliana
- Parabolic Flight Induces Changes in Gene Expression Patterns in Arabidopsis thaliana
- Ground testing of Arabidopsis preservation protocol for the microarray analysis to be used in the ISS EMCS Multigen-2 experiment
- Growth Performance and Root Transcriptome Remodeling of Arabidopsis in Response to Mars-Like Levels of Magnesium Sulfate
- Gravity amplifies and microgravity decreases circumnutations in Arabidopsis thaliana stems: results from a space experiment
- Responses of Arabidopsis to high levels of magnesium sulfate and of wheat to a spaceflight environment; consequences for (extra)terrestrial plant growth
- Ultradian rhythms in Arabidopsis thaliana leaves in microgravity
- Exposure of Arabidopsis thaliana to Hypobaric Environments: Implications for Low-Pressure Bioregenerative Life Support Systems for Human Exploration Missions and Terraforming on Mars
- Arabidopsis gene expression patterns are altered during spaceflight
- Nucleolar structure and proliferation activity of Arabidopsis root cells from seedlings germinated on the International Space Station
- Hypobaric Biology: Arabidopsis Gene Expression at Low Atmospheric Pressure
- Seed-to-seed growth of Arabidopsis thaliana on the International Space Station
- Touch modulates gravity sensing to regulate the growth of primary roots of Arabidopsis thaliana
- Gravitropism and development of wild‐type and starch‐deficient mutants of Arabidopsis during spaceflight
- Mutations in the Gravity Persistence Signal Loci in Arabidopsis Disrupt the Perception and/or Signal Transduction of Gravitropic Stimuli
- Stimulation of elongation growth and xyloglucan breakdown in Arabidopsis hypocotyls under microgravity conditions in space
- The fungicidal and phytotoxic properties of benomyl and PPM in supplemented agar media supporting transgenic arabidopsis plants for a Space Shuttle flight experiment
- Transgene expression patterns indicate that spaceflight affects stress signal perception and transduction in Arabidopsis
- Transgenic Arabidopsis Adh/GFP Reporter Gene Produced for Studying Space Biology Telemetrically
- Gravitropism of inflorescence stems in starch-deficient mutants of Arabidopsis
- The development of spaceflight experiments with Arabidopsis as a model system in gravitropism studies
- Spaceflight exposure effects on transcription, activity, and localization of alcohol dehydrogenase in the roots of Arabidopsis thaliana
- Cytochemical Localization of Reserves during Seed Development in Arabidopsis thaliana under Spaceflight Conditions
- Modification of reproductive development in Arabidopsis thaliana under spaceflight conditions
- Pollen and ovule development in Arabidopsis thaliana under spaceflight conditions