The FixBox: Hardware to Provide on-Orbit Fixation Capabilities to the EMCS on the ISS
- PDF / 15,277,873 Bytes
- 16 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 33 Downloads / 170 Views
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The FixBox: Hardware to Provide on-Orbit Fixation Capabilities to the EMCS on the ISS Aránzazu Manzano 1 & Eva Creus 2 & Albert Tomás 2 & Miguel A. Valbuena 1 & Alicia Villacampa 1 & Malgorzata Ciska 1 & Richard E. Edelmann 3 & John Z. Kiss 4 & F. Javier Medina 1 & Raúl Herranz 1 Received: 31 March 2020 / Accepted: 24 September 2020 # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Plant biology is an important area for the future of space exploration, but biological spaceflight experiments have been always constrained by the hardware capabilities. The European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) unit was an incubator for small organisms, such as Arabidopsis thaliana, built by the European Space Agency (ESA) and was decommissioned in 2018. Here, we describe the FixBox system as add-on hardware to provide fixation capabilities to the plant growth cassettes, which, initially, were not designed to be used for that purpose. Tests were performed to ensure the successful use of this device in the EMCS facility. We also evaluate the required adaptations to the hardware, e.g., to guarantee that the reduced fluid motion in microgravity does not cause any bubbles that could impair the quality of fixation. Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings grown during spaceflight were fixed in the FixBox either in glutaraldehyde or formaldehyde. Electron microscopical images and confocal microscopy immunofluorescent localizations showed an excellent preservation of both cell ultrastructure and antigen conformation. Thus, it is possible to modify existing hardware to comply with the scientific requirements to augment the existing capabilities on board the ISS. In addition, it is also possible to reuse culture chambers from predesigned experimental containers into new modular subunits as FixBox. Similarly, we can design new hardware compatible with a novel cultivation chamber on board, such as is available in BIOLAB, to be used later with FixBox. Lessons learned for future space plant biology researchers include how to manage the number of hardware requirements and constraints on how to preserve the biological samples. Keywords Microgravity . Plant . Spaceflight . Hardware . Preservation
Introduction This article belongs to the Topical Collection: The Effect of Gravity on Physical and Biological Phenomena Guest Editor: Valentina Shevtsova Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-020-09837-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Raúl Herranz [email protected] 1
Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas, Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
2
SENER Aeroespacial SA, Creu Casas i Sicart 86-88, 08290 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
3
Department of Biology, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
4
Department of Biology, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
Biological spaceflight experiments have been always constrained by the hardware capabilities. When the International Space Station (ISS)
Data Loading...
