Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hilaire, E.
Right arrow Articles by Guikema, J. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hilaire, E.
Right arrow Articles by Guikema, J. A.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Hilaire, E.
Right arrow Articles by Guikema, J. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Plant and Cell Physiology, 1995, Vol. 36, No. 5 831-837
© 1995

Microgravity and Clinorotation Cause Redistribution of Free Calcium in Sweet Clover Columella Cells

Emmanuel Hilaire1, Avelina Q. Paulsen1, Christopher S. Brown2 and James A. Guikema1

1Kansas State University, NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training in Gravitational Biology, Division of Biology 232 Ackert Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506-4901, U.S.A.
2Dynamac Corporation, Plant Space Biology Laboratory Mail Code DYN-3, Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899, U.S.A.

In higher plants, calcium redistribution is believed to be crucial for the root to respond to a change in the direction of the gravity vector. To test the effects of clinorotation and microgravity on calcium localization in higher plant roots, sweet clover (Melilotus alba L.) seedlings were germinated and grown for two days on a slow rotating clinostat or in microgravity on the US Space Shuttle flight STS-60. Subsequently, the tissue was treated with a fixative containing antimonate (a calcium precipitating agent) during clinorotation or in microgravity and processed for electron microscopy. In root columella cells of clinorotated plants, antimonate precipitates were localized adjacent to the cell wall in a unilateral manner. Columella cells exposed to microgravity were characterized by precipitates mostly located adjacent to the proximal and lateral cell wall. In all treatments some punctate precipitates were associated with vacuoles, amyloplasts, mitochondria, and euchromatin of the nucleus. A quantitative study revealed a decreased number of precipitates associated with the nucleus and the amyloplasts in columella cells exposed to microgravity as compared to ground controls. These data suggest that roots perceive a change in the gravitational field, as produced by clinorotation or space flights, and respond respectively differently by a redistribution of free calcium.

(Received December 20, 1994; Accepted May 1, 1995)
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Vadose Zone JHome page
M. B. Kirkham
Horizontal Root Growth: Water Uptake and Stomatal Resistance under Microgravity
Vadose Zone J., August 13, 2008; 7(3): 1125 - 1131.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Plant Cell PhysiolHome page
N. Sassa, Y. Matsushita, T. Nakamura, and H. Nyunoya
The Molecular Characterization and in situ Expression Pattern of Pea SCARECROW Gene
Plant Cell Physiol., April 1, 2001; 42(4): 385 - 394.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Bot.Home page
M. M. Guisinger and J. Z. Kiss
The influence of microgravity and spaceflight on columella cell ultrastructure in starch-deficient mutants of Arabidopsis
Am. J. Botany, October 1, 1999; 86(10): 1357 - 1366.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.