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GERMINATION OF LENTILS IN ALTERED MICROGRAVITY ENVIRONMENT.  D. Woodard¹, T. Reed², D. Bulgher³, D. Richardson⁴, G. Vogt⁵, and V. Chopra². ¹NASA, MSFC, Huntsville, AL, ²Dept. Ob-Gyn, UTMB, Galveston, TX; ³NASA, JSC, Houston, TX; ⁴Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS; ⁵University of Colorado, Fort Collins, CO.

   Experiments were designed to study the effect of microgravity on the germination of lentils in three different bioreactors. Two of the bioreactors are commercially available (Slow Turning Lateral Vessel and High Aspect Ratio Vessel). The third type, Classroom Bioreactor (CB) a simplified version of STLV, was designed by the authors to be used by the high school biology students. The CB was shown to favorably reproduce the experiments, and generated results as that of the NASA-designed bioreactors, thus enabling the students and teachers to perform experiments aseptically or under non-aseptic conditions. Our results indicated that the lentils germinated in all three bioreactors at a constant speed of 9-12 rpm over a period of 2-6 days in comparison with lentils germinated under Earth’s gravity conditions in regular tap water at room temperature. There was a variation in the length and weight of the lentils after sprouting them in the STLV, HARV and CB as compared with lentils sprouted under Earth’s gravity conditions in the control experiments. A change in length of sprouts was also observed in lentils sprouted in the HARV as compared with those sprouted using the STLV, CB and Earth’s gravity conditions. The sprouting conditions were similar in the STLV and CB when the sprout lengths were measured as a function of time as compared with control lentils. There was also a change in the growth pattern of the plants cultivated from the lentils germinated in three different microgravity conditions (STLV, HARV and CB) as compared with growth patterns of lentils sprouted under Earth’s gravity conditions. This project is further being developed for a Teachers’ Guide for grades 9-12, in collaboration with NASA and NABT.

(Supported by funding from NASA for Educational Brief).

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