By observing the growth of mosses in space, Japanese researchers have achieved interesting results about the resistance of living organisms in adverse conditions.
According to RCO News Agency, Japanese researchers have confirmed the incredible resistance of living organisms to the conditions of space. They found that moss spores that spent nine months outside the International Space Station in the vacuum and intense radiation successfully grew into full-fledged plants.
According to Universe Space Tech, Mosses grow in the harshest conditions on earth; From the peaks of the Himalayas to the sands of Death Valley and from the tundra in Antarctica to the lava of active volcanoes. Inspired by the flexibility of moss, researchers sent its sporophyte, the reproductive structure containing spores, into the harshest environment, space.
The results of a new study by Japanese researchers show that more than 80% of spores survived for 9 months outside the International Space Station and returned to Earth with their ability to reproduce. This is the first time that early land plants can survive long-term exposure to space elements.
“Tomomichi Fujita”, a researcher at “Hokkaido University” and the senior researcher of this project, said: Most living things, including humans, cannot even survive in the vacuum of space for a short time. Despite this, the moss spores remained viable after nine months of direct exposure to the vacuum of space. These results provide significant evidence that evolved life on Earth has innate mechanisms at the cellular level to withstand the conditions of space.
To investigate whether a plant like moss can survive in space, Fujita’s group exposed a moss called “Physcomitrium patens” (Physcomitrium patens), known as spreading soil moss, to simulated space conditions, including high levels of ultraviolet radiation and extremely high and low temperatures.
The researchers tested three different structures of moss that appear under stressful conditions to see which ones have the best chance of surviving in space.
They found that UV radiation was the most challenging element for survival and that the sporophytes were the most resistant part of the moss. None of the young mosses survived exposure to high levels of UV radiation or extreme temperatures. The baby cells had a higher survival rate, but the spores in the shell showed almost 1,000 times more resistance to UV radiation. Also, the spores were able to survive and germinate after being exposed to minus 196 degrees Celsius for over a week and after being stored at 55 degrees Celsius for a month.
The structure around the spore acts as a protective barrier, absorbing UV light and physically and chemically protecting the inner spore from damage, the researchers said. It’s likely an evolutionary adaptation that allowed bryophytes — a group of plants that also includes mosses — to switch from aquatic to land plants 500 million years ago and survive several mass extinctions since then, the researchers say.
To test whether the adaptation could keep the sporophytes alive in real space conditions, the researchers sent the spores beyond the stratosphere.
In March 2022, researchers sent hundreds of sporophytes to the International Space Station on the Cygnus NG-17 spacecraft. After arrival, the astronauts attached the sporophyte samples to the exterior of the ISS, and the samples remained outdoors for a total of 283 days. Then, in January 2023, this moss returned to Earth on SpaceX’s CRS-16 rocket and was returned to the laboratory for testing.
More than 80 percent of the spores survived the space journey, and all but 11 percent were able to germinate in the lab. This research group also examined the level of chlorophyll in the spores and found normal levels of this substance in all types of spores; Except for the 20% decrease in chlorophyll a, which is particularly sensitive to changes in visible light, this change does not seem to affect the health of the spores.
Fujita said: “This research shows the amazing flexibility of life that originated on Earth.”
Interested in how long spores survive in space, Fujita’s group used data from before and after the moss’s journey to create a mathematical model. They estimated that the spores could survive in their shells for up to 5,600 days—roughly 15 years—in space. However, they emphasize that this figure is only an estimate, and that larger data sets are needed to make more realistic predictions of how long moss can survive in space.
The researchers hope that their research will help develop research into the potential of extraterrestrial soils to enhance plant growth and inspire the use of moss to develop agricultural systems in space.
Fujita said: We hope that this research will eventually open new horizons for building ecosystems in extraterrestrial environments such as the Moon and Mars. I hope our research on mosses will serve as a starting point.
This research was published in “iScience” magazine.
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