Plants grown in Kennedy Fixation Tubes (KFT)

A simulated human-tended flight experiment was conducted by growing Arabidopsis thaliana plants on a phytagel matrix-encased coupon which was inserted into a Kennedy Fixation Tube (KFT) preloaded with RNAlater. RNAseq analysis conducted on these plants showed the ability to capture gravitational responses with high reproducibility. To mimick a suborbital flight profile, plants in KFTs were subjected to clinorotation and its transcriptome was compared to various quiescent controls. Arabidopsis thaliana (Col-0) was grown in Kennedy Fixation Tubes