University of Florida scientists funded by NASA have been able to grow plants in soil derived from the moon for the first time in history.
The discovery that plants can sprout in extraterrestrial soil may not only be of great importance for future space missions, but it could also have applications back here on Earth.
Image Credit: UF/IFAS photo by Tyler Jones
Due to their previous work with plants growing in terrestrial soil that closely resembles lunar soil, NASA had given the Florida team a unique opportunity to use actual lunar soil in their experiment.
The researchers were amazed at their findings, as they were not at all what they had predicted. Anna-Lisa Paul (one of the researchers and professor in Horticultural Sciences at the University of Florida stated: "Everything sprouted. I can't tell you how astonished we were!"
The team was loaned 12 grams of material (a few teaspoons) collected during Apollo missions 11, 12, and 17, allowing them to use a single gram of regolith per plant.
The plants, after they sprouted (day 6) - (Image Credit: UF/IFAS photo by Tyler Jones)
The experiment
The team used tiny flower pots the size of a thimble to germinate the plants. Each pot received a single gram of soil, nutrients, water, and some Arabidopsis seeds.
Arabidopsis (also known as mouse-ear cress or thale cress) is a small flowering plant native to the continents of Africa and Eurasia. It was chosen because of its rigidness and the fact that its entire genome has previously been mapped.
Thale cress, a tough little flower - (Image Credit: lehic via Shutterstock / HDR tune by Universal-Sci)
Difficulties
The seeds sprouted within the first three days. Up to about six days in, the lunar soil plants developed like their counterparts planted in control soil, consisting of volcanic ash that somewhat resembles lunar soil in structure and composition.
After the sixth day, however, it became apparent that the lunar soil plants were not as rugged as the aforementioned control group. Instead, the lunar plants grew at a slower rate and had stunted roots; in addition, some had discolored pigmentation and stunted leaves.
The plants were grown in 3 different types of lunar soil. How plants react to lunar soil may be connected to where the soil was collected.
For example, the scientist found that the flowers with the most symptoms of stress were those cultivated in what lunar geologists designate as mature lunar soil.
Mature soil has been exposed to more cosmic wind, altering its makeup. Plants grown in less mature soils coped much better.
The difference between the plants grown in different types of lunar soil (right) and Earth soil (left) on day 16 - (Image Credit: UF/IFAS photo by Tyler Jones)
After 20 days, the researchers harvested the plants to study their RNA.
According to Anna-Lisa Paul, the plants used the genetic tools they commonly apply to deal with stressors like metals, salt, or oxidative stress, which means that they perceived their time in lunar soil as stressful.
Stephen Elardo, assistant professor of geology at the University of Florida, stated that growing plants in lunar soils might also change the soils themselves.
As the moon is exceptionally arid, the question arises of how the lunar soil will react to the cultivation of plants with additional nutrients and water. All of these factors may make the mineralogy more hospitable to plants.
Optimistic
Nevertheless, the researchers are enthusiastic about their findings. We may want to use the moon as a stepping stone for longer space missions in the future. It would be great if we could use the soil that is already there. 'Farmland' on the moon may not only provide colonists with food, but it could also supply them with oxygen.
NASA itself points out that the research may not only benefit future astronauts. Growing plants in this inhospitable moon soil could also lead to insights into how plants on Earth can be grown in radically different soil.o
For years scientists have been asking if plants can grow in lunar soil. It turns out that the answer is yes.
The researchers published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal Communications Biology, listed below.
Sources and further reading:
Special lettuce grown in space will help future Mars-bound astronauts prevent bone loss (Universal-Sci)
How did the moon end up where it is? - (Universal-Sci)
Plants grown in Apollo lunar regolith present stress-associated transcriptomes that inform prospects for lunar exploration - (Communications Biology)
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