Biljke u svemirskim istraživanjima – kratki pregled astrobotanike

undergraduate thesis

• Title (english): Plants in space exploration – a short overview ff astrobotany
• Author: Ana Izabela Talanga Vasari
• Mentor: Mirta Tkalec (mentor)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Science; (Department of Biology); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2019, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: NATURAL SCIENCES; Biology

Abstract

Astrobotanika se bavi istraživanjem rasta i razvoja biljaka u svemirskim uvjetima. Istraživanja u ovom području počinju već od najranijih dana čovjekova istraživanja svemira jer biljke kao fotosintetski organizmi uz minimalni dodatak energije u obliku svjetlosti i esencijalnih hranjivih tvari, mogu osigurati kisik i hranu posadi svemirskih letjelica. U istraživanjima se koriste sjemenke, klijanci, kalusne kulture ili pak kulture protoplasta kako bi se ustanovile sve promjene koje se događaju u biljnom metabolizmu u svemirskim uvjetima. Zabilježen je niz promjena poput indukcije stresnog metabolizma biljaka ili prilagodbi stanične stjenke, no unatoč tome biljke su bile sposobne aklimatizirati se na nove uvjete. Pokazalo se da su rast i razvoj biljaka u staklenicima na svemirskoj postaji mogući tijekom nekoliko generacija uz stvaranje vijabilnog sjemenja. Trenutačno se istražuje nekoliko sustava sa ciljem integracije biljaka u sustave za održavanje života koji bi trebali omogućiti dulji i samostalniji boravak ljudi u svemiru bez potrebe za opskrbom sa Zemlje pa tako Europska svemirska agencija (ESA) razvija bioregenerativni sustav pod imenom MELiSSA. Kruženje tvari unutar ovoga sustava trebalo bi pomoći posadama duljih letova da sami regeneriraju potrebne esencijalne elemente uz njihov minimalni gubitak.

Abstract (english)

The main focus of astrobotanical research is growth and development of plants in space. Plants have been part of space research since its earliest years and have been recognized as valuable resource to support human life in space. Due to their photosynthetic activity it is possible to grow them for food and oxygen production, with minimal energy and nutrient input. They are tested as seeds, shoots, callus and protoplast cultures in order to identify changes that take place when exposed to space conditions. A number of changes have been identified in plants grown in space compared to plants grown on Earth, mainly the activation of stress metabolism related genes and remodelling of the cell wall structure, however plants were able to adapt and grow. Growth and development of healthy plants that produce viable seeds is possible in space even over a number of generations. At the moment, there are a few designs in development for the integration of plants into life support systems. One of such is a bioregenerative system named MELiSSA (by European Space Agency), based on the circulation of elements in order to regenerate nutrients and enable longer space flights.

• Keywords: astrobotanika
• Language: croatian
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:217:094168
• Study programme: Title: Ecology; Study programme type: university; Study level: undergraduate; Academic / professional title: sveučilišni/a prvostupnik/prvostupnica (baccalaureus/baccalaurea) biologije (sveučilišni/a prvostupnik/prvostupnica (baccalaureus/baccalaurea) biologije)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2019-10-09 09:23:05