In CHROMEX-03, plants were grown in closed plant growth chambers (PGCs), and male and female gametophyte development aborted at an early stage in the flight material. Plants produced equal numbers of flowers to those controls growing on the ground but required special environmental conditions to permit fertilization and early seed development during spaceflight. Plants were retrieved from the orbiters 2-3 h after landing and reproductive material was immediately processed for in-vivo observations of pollen viability, pollen tube growth, and esterase activity in the stigma, or fixed for later microscopy. Plants were 13-14 d old (rosettes) at time of launch and initiated flowering shoots while in orbit. during three flight experiments: CHROMEX-03 on STS-54 (6 d), CHROMEX-04 on STS-51 (10 d), and CHROMEX-05 on STS-68 (11 d). Using short-duration exposure to spaceflight, we studied plant reproduction in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. ![]() Previous results, reviewed herein, indicated difficulties in obtaining successful seed production in orbit, often relating to delayed plant development during the long-term growth necessary for a complete plant life cycle. Plant reproduction is a complex developmental process likely to be disrupted by the unusual environmental conditions in orbital spacecraft.
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