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Backgrounder

APEX-CSA2

The Advanced Plant Experiment-CSA2 (APEX-CSA2) is the second Canadian botany study to be conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The objective of the experiment is to help researchers understand the influence of gravity on plant physiology, growth, and on the genetics of wood formation. APEX-CSA2 is led by Dr. Jean Beaulieu of Natural Resources Canada's Canadian Wood Fibre Centre in Quebec City, with the close collaboration of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and NASA.

APEX-CSA2 will compare the genes and tissue of the white spruce (Picea glauca) in microgravity and on Earth. 24 white spruce seedlings were launched to the ISS aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on April 5, 2010. On April 8, 18 of the healthiest seedlings were transferred to the ISS's Destiny Lab. Expedition 22 crew member T.J. Creamer planted them in a NASA incubator known as the Advanced Biological Research System (or ABRS). The plants will grow in space for about 30 days, with the incubator controlling lighting, temperate and atmospheric composition. Researchers on the ground monitor their growth daily using video cameras, and ISS astronauts water the plants as necessary. Control plants are also being grown in similar conditions on Earth for comparison with the space-faring samples.

In mid-May, the tips of both the stem and roots will be clipped and placed in cold storage. They will return to Earth on Space Shuttle Mission STS-132. Some of the trees will be preserved in formaldehyde to study tissue development (specifically, how the absence of gravity affects tissue composition, organization, plant growth and wood formation). Other plants will be selected for genetic analysis using a DNA chip known as a microarray, which was recently developed at Laval University in the context of the Arborea project, thanks to a strong partnership with Natural Resources Canada and funding provided by Genome Canada. The microarray technique will allow scientists to determine how the trees' genetic activity was affected in weightlessness.

Studying the genetics of plant growth on the International Space Station can also lead to biotechnology applications in the field of forestry and agriculture. One of the challenges facing the forestry sector is balancing the increasing demand for wood fibre with the need to manage forest ecosystems in a sustainable way for present and future generations of Canadians. By better understanding the genetics of white spruce—an economically important species widely used in the pulp and paper industry—it may one day be possible to select and design genetically improved varieties that would allow them to cope with climate change, for example, with the fibre attributes that would allow the Canadian forest industry to be more competitive.