CARA Experiment: Arabidopsis Spaceflight Transcriptome Responses

Transcriptome data from the CARA experiment on the International Space Station, comparing root tip gene expression in Arabidopsis ecotypes Col-0 and WS, and a PhyD mutant. The dataset was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and was last updated in March 2026. It was designed to investigate whether portions of the plant spaceflight transcriptome response are dispensable for physiological adaptation.

Use Cases

• Identify genes with dispensable spaceflight responses based on comparisons between wild-type and mutant genotypes.
• Analyze the impact of genotype on the cost of spaceflight adaptation using transcriptome response data.
• Study the effect of in-space light environments on physiological adaptation by comparing dark-grown and ambient-light experiments.
• Compare spaceflight transcriptome responses between different Arabidopsis ecotypes (Col-0 and WS).

Strengths

• Data originates from a controlled experiment on the International Space Station, providing a unique environment.
• Compares multiple genotypes (Col-0, WS, and a PhyD mutant) under different light conditions, allowing for nuanced analysis.
• Dataset was last updated in March 2026, suggesting recent availability.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset scale are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is provided in a BIN format, which may require specific tools for access and analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Transcriptome analysis from the CARA experiment conducted on the International Space Station.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:25:17.087451

Geography

International Space Station