Arabidopsis Spaceflight Transcriptome: Tissue-Specific Gene Expression Responses

National Aeronautics and Space Administration conducted three replicated experiments on the International Space Station using Arabidopsis thaliana. Gene expression data was collected in real time via GFP reporter imaging and by harvesting plants on orbit for subsequent Affymetrix and SAGE transcriptome analyses. The dataset compares responses from whole plants to discrete root, hypocotyl, and shoot tissues.

Use Cases

• Identify tissue-specific gene expression changes based on comparisons of leaves, hypocotyls, and roots.
• Analyze the impact of the orbital environment on plant transcriptomes based on whole-plant versus tissue-specific analyses.
• Compare results from different transcriptome analysis methods (Affymetrix and SAGE) mentioned in the description.
• Study plant adaptation mechanisms to novel environments based on the described tissue-specific responses.

Strengths

• Data from three replicated experiments conducted on the International Space Station.
• Includes gene expression data from three distinct tissue types (leaves, hypocotyls, roots) and whole plants.
• Utilized two methodological approaches: real-time GFP reporter imaging and post-harvest transcriptome analyses.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• File format is listed as BIN, which may require specialized tools for access and analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Experiments conducted on the International Space Station using GFP reporter imaging and Affymetrix/SAGE transcriptome analyses of harvested plant tissues.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:17:02.404230; freshness should be verified.

Geography

International Space Station (orbital environment)