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Development of a Synthetic Seed Production Method for Long-Term Transport and Advanced Life Support.  J.E. Porter and T.P. West Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences, West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV.

   A system to produce viable synthetic seeds of select crops is desirous for the long-term storage and transport of clonal plant material into space.  Current limitations of flight experiments and germplasm transport allow only for the use of sexually-produced seeds, introducing genetic variability and the possibility for seed-borne diseases.

  This study will strive to evaluate the use of synthetic seed technology to create synseeds of  Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) and Lycopersicon escuelentum (Mill.) tomato F1 hybrids.  A comparison of gene expression of A. thaliana (L.) synseeds produced by both somatic embryos and encapsulated nodes will be used to evaluate differences in both production techniques for genetic variability (due to somaclonal variation in somatic embryos) and stability during storage.  This study will also evaluate the ability of synseeds to be reintroduced into tissue culture and direct introduction into hydroponic production systems for crop production.

   Four tomato F1 hybrids (‘Celebrity’, ‘Big Beef’, ‘Sweet Olive’, and ‘Sun Cherry’) along with A. thaliana (L.) will be evaluated for ability to produce somatic embryos and axillary shoot cultures for encapsulation in order to produce synthetic seeds.  Components of the encapsulation medium will be evaluated to determine the appropriate formula for each propagule.  The synseeds will be stored for various time periods to determine effect of storage on viability and vigor.  Gene expression will be compared between synseeds of A. thaliana (L.) from both production methods and plants grown under standard conditions using microarray technology.  Synseeds from both propagule sources will be evaluated for success in direct introduction to a hydroponic system for differences in growth and yield.  The synseeds will also be placed back into tissue culture to determine if a perpetual propagation cycle can be obtained to regenerate more synseeds.

(Supported by NASA WV Space Grant Consortium)