ASGSB 1999 Annual Meeting Abstracts

MICROARRAY TECHNOLOGY IMPLICATIONS FOR PLANT SPACE BIOLOGY. E. Hilaire, J.A. Guikema and J.E. Leach. Plant Biotechnology Center, Throckmorton Hall, Manhattan, KS

Since the early days of plant space biology, studies have focused on physiological and biochemical responses to microgravity, however, very little is known about changes at the gene expression. level. With several plant genome sequencing projects coming to completion in the near future, a multitude of gene sequences will be available. In parallel, cDNA microarray is a recently developed technology that allows a simultaneous expression study of a multitude of genes in plants (or other organisms) after various treatments.

Microarrays consist of a glass slide or a microchip where hundreds to thousands of plant cDNAs, along with internal controls, are imprinted using a robot. For example, over a thousand cDNAs can be imprinted over an area of 9 mm². This surface is then probed with cDNAs obtained from mRNA of plants exposed to different treatments. The slide is simultaneously hybridized with two probes that have been labeled with Cy3-dCTP or Cy5-dCTP as fluorescent signals. Signal detection is accomplished by a laser-based technology derived from confocal microscopy and signal readings are analyzed by appropriate software.

With the freezing capabilities available aboard the space shuttle and the upcoming international space station, it is therefore possible to envision a multitude of experiments that will give us more insight on the effects of microgravity on plant gene expression using cDNA microarrays. This new technology will be described and we will discuss its numerous applications for plant space biology.

(Supported by the Kansas NASA-EPSCoR program)

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