PLANT SPACE BIOLOGY IN THE GENOMICS AGE

Advances in molecular technologies have ushered in a new age of understanding across all disciplines of biology. Research in plant biology has cap-italised on these novel capabilities, unlocking new understanding of how plants respond to a myriad of conditions. Plant growth in spaceflight environments represents a decades-long endeavour, but the past 20 years have produced a wealth of data aimed toward understanding gravitational biology and informing the optimisation of plant growth for long-duration spaceflight missions. The spaceflight environment subjects plants to low gravity and ionising radiation, which have a variety of downstream impacts on plant growth and well-being. Omics technologies have revealed a perplexing web of stress responses to space-flight, and optimally growing plants in these environments requires characterising the mechanistic origins of those responses. Here, we review the plant omics data gathered to date from spaceflight experiments and highlight trends and future directions as we move forward into a new age of discovery.

Automated summary

Advances in molecular technologies have revolutionized the field of plant biology, providing new insights into plant growth in spaceflight environments. Omics technologies have played a crucial role in understanding the impact of low gravity and ionising radiation on plants, and characterizing the stress responses. This review highlights the trends and future directions in plant omics research in spaceflight.