Physiological and Transcriptional Responses of Arabidopsis thaliana to Simulated Lunar and Martian Regolith Substrates

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Buckner, A'nya, Lang, Sarah, Loureiro, Rafael
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866916862889033728
author Buckner, A'nya
Lang, Sarah
Loureiro, Rafael
author_facet Buckner, A'nya
Lang, Sarah
Loureiro, Rafael
contents The integration of plant-based bioregenerative life support systems is a central objective in NASA's Moon to Mars strategy. Arabidopsis thaliana, a model organism with extensive genomic resources, serves as a key species to investigate plant resilience in extraterrestrial environments. We assessed the physiological and gene expression responses of A. thaliana (Col-0) grown in two off-world regolith simulants: LHS-2 (lunar highlands) and MGS-1 (Martian global). Plants exposed to these substrates exhibited significant reductions in root elongation, biomass, and chlorophyll content, along with elevated anthocyanin levels and transcriptional upregulation of stress-related genes including IRT1, PCS1, SOD1, and JAZ1. Evidence of jasmonic acid pathway activation and auxin signaling suppression suggests metal-induced hormonal misregulation. Our integrated analysis of morphological traits, pigment accumulation, and transcriptomic profiles reveals distinct mineral-specific stress responses, offering critical insights into substrate engineering strategies for future space agriculture.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_13583
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Physiological and Transcriptional Responses of Arabidopsis thaliana to Simulated Lunar and Martian Regolith Substrates
Buckner, A'nya
Lang, Sarah
Loureiro, Rafael
Quantitative Methods
The integration of plant-based bioregenerative life support systems is a central objective in NASA's Moon to Mars strategy. Arabidopsis thaliana, a model organism with extensive genomic resources, serves as a key species to investigate plant resilience in extraterrestrial environments. We assessed the physiological and gene expression responses of A. thaliana (Col-0) grown in two off-world regolith simulants: LHS-2 (lunar highlands) and MGS-1 (Martian global). Plants exposed to these substrates exhibited significant reductions in root elongation, biomass, and chlorophyll content, along with elevated anthocyanin levels and transcriptional upregulation of stress-related genes including IRT1, PCS1, SOD1, and JAZ1. Evidence of jasmonic acid pathway activation and auxin signaling suppression suggests metal-induced hormonal misregulation. Our integrated analysis of morphological traits, pigment accumulation, and transcriptomic profiles reveals distinct mineral-specific stress responses, offering critical insights into substrate engineering strategies for future space agriculture.
title Physiological and Transcriptional Responses of Arabidopsis thaliana to Simulated Lunar and Martian Regolith Substrates
topic Quantitative Methods
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.13583