The impact of space environment on gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings

Variation in the transcriptome of different ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana reveals signatures of oxidative stress in plant responses to spaceflight

“…Similarly, a range of other HSP and HSF transcripts appear to be induced in some of the ecotypes (Table ). Heat shock protein and HSF upregulation in spaceflight has been previously reported in both seedlings and in cultured cells (Paul et al., , , b; Correll et al., ; Zupanska et al., ; Kwon et al., ; Johnson et al., ; Li et al., ) with HSP101 , HSP70 , and HSP17.6A shared among various members of these previous studies and our list of upregulated transcripts common across ecotypes. Although these previous studies were performed mostly using the BRIC hardware, they also included experiments with the European Modular Cultivation System and SIMBOX, suggesting that modulation of the heat shock‐related transcripts is not limited to a single experimental platform.…”

“…Peroxidases likely play a role in cell wall remodeling (Kwon et al., ), and a possible role for alterations in cell wall structure and function has also been noted in several other spaceflight transcriptome and proteome data sets (e.g., Paul et al., , b, ; Correll et al., ; Johnson et al., ; Li et al., ). These changes are consistent with reported alterations in wall structure in rice and Arabidopsis plants under spaceflight conditions (Hoson et al., ; Johnson et al., ).…”

“…Many spaceflight experiments aimed at profiling transcriptome‐level changes have used the Col‐0 ecotype as their reference wild type for both seedling (e.g., Paul et al., , b, ; Nakashima et al., ; Kwon et al., ; Li et al., ) and cell culture experiments (e.g., Zupanska et al., ; Fengler et al., ). In addition, the transcriptional responses of the Ws‐2 ecotype have been studied using equipment such as the Advanced Biological Research System (ABRS; Paul et al., , b) and in the CARA experiment (Paul et al., ).…”

Comparative transcriptomics indicate changes in cell wall organization and stress response in seedlings during spaceflight

“…During our analyses of the literature on spaceflight experiments, we noted that many studies conducted on different types of organisms reported on stress responses (Barrila et al, 2016; Li et al, 2017), cell expansion (Jha et al, 2016; Soga et al, 2002), cellular defense (Matía et al, 2007; Martzivanou et al, 2006), and cell polarity (Lorenzi and Perbal, 1990; Testa et al, 2014). The three BRIC‐16 experiments (BRIC‐16‐Cyt, BRIC‐16‐Reg, and BRIC‐16‐DNA) also found many genes in these categories to be differentially regulated in Arabidopsis , with contrasting results in entire seedlings compared with shoots.…”

“…In yet another hardware scenario, SIMbox, was flown in a joint Chinese and German experiment (Fengler et al, 2015; Li et al, 2017), and the hardware included a centrifuge to provide a 1 g spaceflight control. In this project, 298 genes, with a high P ‐value ( P < 0.1), were reported as differentially regulated 2‐fold or more between space and ground control plants.…”