Automorphogenesis of Plant Seedlings under Simulated Microgravity on a 3-D Clinostat

We developed a three-dimensional (3-D) clinostat equipped with two motors and studied the changes in different growth processes of higher plants under this condition. On the clinostat, morphogenesis of seedlings changed dramatically. Shoots and roots exhibited a spontaneous curvature as well as an altered growth direction. The curvature occurred at different portions of seedlings. Maize shoots exhibited the curvature in the transition zone connecting roots and mesocotyls, coleoptile nodes, and coleoptiles. Maize roots bent in the most basal region, the region between the mature and the elongating zone, and the elongating zone. The curvature became larger with their growth. Such an automorphogenesis may play an important role in regulation of life cycle of higher plants under a microgravity environment.