Composition and physical properties of starch in microgravity-grown plants Original Research Article

The effect of spaceflight on starch development in soybean (Glycine max L., BRIC-03) and potato (Solanum tuberosum, Astroculture-05) was compared with ground controls by biophysical and biochemical measurements. Starch grains from plants from both flights were on average 20–50% smaller in diameter than ground controls. The ratio Δκ/Δρ (Δκ - difference of magnetic susceptibilities, Δρ - difference of densities between starch and water) of starch grains was ca. 15% and 4% higher for space-grown soybean cotyledons and potato tubers, respectively, than in corresponding ground controls. Since the densities of particles were similar for all samples (1.36 to 1.38 g/cm3), the observed difference in Δκ/Δρ was due to different magnetic susceptibilities and indicates modified composition of starch grains. In starch preparations from soybean cotyledons (BRIC-03) subjected to controlled enzymatic degradation with α-amylase for 24 hours, 77±6% of the starch from the flight cotyledons was degraded compared to 58±12% in ground controls. The amylose content in starch was also higher in space-grown tissues. The good correlation between the amylose content and Δκ/Δρ suggests, that the magnetic susceptibility of starch grains is related to their amylose content. Since the seedlings from the BRIC-03 experiment showed elevated post-flight ethylene levels, material from another flight experiment (GENEX) which had normal levels of ethylene was examined and showed no difference to ground controls in size distribution, density, Δκ/Δρ and amylose content. Therefore the role of ethylene appears to be more important for changes in starch metabolism than microgravity.