TY  - JOUR
A1  - Huwe, Björn
A1  - Fiedler, Annelie
A1  - Moritz, Sophie
A1  - Rabbow, Elke
A1  - de Vera, Jean-Pierre Paul
A1  - Joshi, Jasmin Radha
T1  - Mosses in Low Earth Orbit
BT  - Implications for the Limits of Life and the Habitability of Mars
JF  - Astrobiology
N2  - As a part of the European Space Agency mission "EXPOSE-R2" on the International Space Station (ISS), the BIOMEX (Biology and Mars Experiment) experiment investigates the habitability of Mars and the limits of life. In preparation for the mission, experimental verification tests and scientific verification tests simulating different combinations of abiotic space- and Mars-like conditions were performed to analyze the resistance of a range of model organisms. The simulated abiotic space- and Mars-stressors were extreme temperatures, vacuum, and Mars-like surface ultraviolet (UV) irradiation in different atmospheres. We present for the first time simulated space exposure data of mosses using plantlets of the bryophyte genus Grimmia, which is adapted to high altitudinal extreme abiotic conditions at the Swiss Alps. Our preflight tests showed that severe UVR200-400nm irradiation with the maximal dose of 5 and 6.8 x 10(5) kJ center dot m(-2), respectively, was the only stressor with a negative impact on the vitality with a 37% (terrestrial atmosphere) or 36% reduction (space- and Mars-like atmospheres) in photosynthetic activity. With every exposure to UVR200-400nm 10(5) kJ center dot m(-2), the vitality of the bryophytes dropped by 6%. No effect was found, however, by any other stressor. As the mosses were still vital after doses of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) expected during the EXPOSE-R2 mission on ISS, we show that this earliest extant lineage of land plants is highly resistant to extreme abiotic conditions.
KW  - Extremotolerant
KW  - Bryophyte
KW  - Plant performance
KW  - Grimmia sp
KW  - Irradiation
KW  - UV irradiation
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2018.1889
SN  - 1531-1074
SN  - 1557-8070
VL  - 19
IS  - 2
SP  - 221
EP  - 232
PB  - Liebert
CY  - New Rochelle
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Heinze, Johannes
A1  - Sitte, Mario
A1  - Schindhelm, Anne
A1  - Wright, J.
A1  - Joshi, Jasmin Radha
T1  - Plant-soil feedbacks: a comparative study on the relative importance of soil feedbacks in the greenhouse versus the field
JF  - Oecologia
N2  - Interactions between plants and soil microorganisms influence individual plant performance and thus plant-community composition. Most studies on such plant-soil feedbacks (PSFs) have been performed under controlled greenhouse conditions, whereas no study has directly compared PSFs under greenhouse and natural field conditions. We grew three grass species that differ in local abundance in grassland communities simultaneously in the greenhouse and field on field-collected soils either previously conditioned by these species or by the general grassland community. As soils in grasslands are typically conditioned by mixes of species through the patchy and heterogeneous plant species’ distributions, we additionally compared the effects of species-specific versus non-specific species conditioning on PSFs in natural and greenhouse conditions. In almost all comparisons PSFs differed between the greenhouse and field. In the greenhouse, plant growth in species-specific and non-specific soils resulted in similar effects with neutral PSFs for the most abundant species and positive PSFs for the less abundant species. In contrast, in the field all grass species tested performed best in non-specific plots, whereas species-specific PSFs were neutral for the most abundant and varied for the less abundant species. This indicates a general beneficial effect of plant diversity on PSFs in the field. Controlled greenhouse conditions might provide valuable insights on the nominal effects of soils on plants. However, the PSFs observed in greenhouse conditions may not be the determining drivers in natural plant communities where their effects may be overwhelmed by the diversity of abiotic and biotic above- and belowground interactions in the field.
KW  - Grassland
KW  - Plant performance
KW  - Experimental environment
KW  - Community assembly
KW  - Plant diversity
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-016-3591-8
SN  - 0029-8549
SN  - 1432-1939
VL  - 181
SP  - 559
EP  - 569
PB  - Springer
CY  - New York
ER  -