962．JIRCAS Links Earth and Space〜New Frontier of Resilient Crops〜

JIRCAS, in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), recently conducted a crosstalk session (JIRCAS x JAXA) on the “Future of Space and Food Research” as part of the Friday Night Science Café.
 
The discussion focused on JIRCAS's key research initiative on the Development of resilient crops and production technologies (Resilient Crops), which aims to address today's challenges posed by climate change-induced environmental degradation. In particular, this research has profound implications for crop production beyond Earth, including potential applications on space stations, spacecraft and the lunar surface. Notable achievements include the successful cultivation of soybeans in a controlled, space-saving artificial environment, allowing for five generation promotions per year (Nagatoshi and Fujita, 2019). Progress has also been made in optimizing plant water use and promoting the development of drought-resistant crop varieties (Nagatoshi et al., 2023). In addition, the groundwork has been laid for genomic information and gene function analysis, which are critical for improving underutilized crops such as quinoa (Yasui et al., 2016; Mizuno et al., 2020; Ogata et al., 2021). This body of research not only protects human life on Earth in the future, but also supports human expansion into extraterrestrial realms.
 
The exploration of space agriculture for human space missions is still in its infancy (Service, 2023). Recent milestones include JAXA's successful lunar landing of the unmanned SLIM spacecraft on January 20 and the inaugural launch of Japan's next-generation H3 carrier rocket on February 17. Meanwhile, on the International Space Station (ISS), NASA-led projects such as Veg-01, Veg-03, Veg-04A, and Veg-04B have focused primarily on leafy vegetable cultivation, with upcoming mini-tomato experiments planned for Veg-05. Additional efforts include cultivation experiments using lunar and Martian regolith (Paul et al., 2022; Kasiviswanathan et al., 2022) and investigations of plant growth in simulated weightlessness (Totsline et al., 2024). It is expected that humans will continue to move into space step by step, establishing food production methods on space stations and spacecraft, on asteroids and the lunar surface, and even on Mars, which has an atmosphere but is more distant.
 
JIRCAS is actively involved in several projects that aim to revolutionize crop resilience and sustainability, with profound implications for both terrestrial and extraterrestrial agriculture. One such initiative is its participation in the Achieving zero food risk by improving crop robustness through cyber-physical systems project under the Moonshot R&D Program for agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. This effort aims to elucidate the mechanisms that govern the robustness of wild plants, paving the way for the development of digital crop design technology capable of rapidly generating resilient crops that can adapt to environmental stresses such as nutrient deficiency and drought. Furthermore, under the Strategic Innovation Program Phase 3 (SIP3) project entitled "Establishment of sustainable food chain for abundant food supply", JIRCAS is dedicated to elucidating the mechanisms of drought tolerance in soybean. In addition, through the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) program, efforts are underway to combat climate change by harnessing the potential of quinoa, a highly nutritious crop known for its resilience to harsh environments. The desolate landscape around Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, South America, the target of the project, has been likened to other planets in the universe and has been used as a filming location for the movie Star Wars. The area surrounding Salar de Uyuni is a harsh environment with annual rainfall of about 150mm, high salinity, and altitude of less than 4,000m, so the only crop that can be grown is quinoa, which can adapt to the harsh environment (see photo). JIRCAS's efforts in crop production in such a harsh environment have great potential for space agriculture research.

With the slogan "Together for our food and planetary health," JIRCAS is poised to address global food and environmental challenges, potentially extending its impact into the realm of space. The recent JIRCAS x JAXA Science Café on Friday night was an opportunity to reflect on the future of space and humankind while contemplating the beautiful stars shining in the sky.

In the future, the stage for international agricultural research may not be limited to protecting the Earth, but may extend far into space. We envision that innovations in global agriculture in response to climate change will also shape the future of space agriculture, laying the foundation for sustaining life in the new frontier of space.

References
Nagatoshi, Y. & Fujita, Y. (2019). Accelerating soybean breeding in a CO2-supplemented growth chamber. Plant Cell Physiol. 60:1, 77-84. https://doi.org/10.1093/pcp/pcy189 

Nagatoshi, Y., Ikazaki, K., Kobayashi, Y., Mizuno, N., Sugita, R., Takebayashi, Y., Kojima, M., Sakakibara, H., Kobayashi, N. I., Tanoi, K., Fujii, K., Baba, J., Ogiso-Tanaka, E., Ishimoto, M., Yasui, Y., Oya, T. & Fujita, Y. (2023). Phosphate starvation response precedes abscisic acid response under progressive mild drought in plants. Nat Commun. 14:1, 5047. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40773-1

Yasui, Y., Hirakawa, H., Oikawa, T., Toyoshima, M., Matsuzaki, C., Ueno, M., Mizuno, N., Nagatoshi, Y., Imamura, T., Miyago, M., Tanaka, K., Mise, K., Tanaka, T., Mizukoshi, H., Mori, M. & Fujita, Y. (2016). Draft genome sequence of an inbred line of Chenopodium quinoa, an allotetraploid crop with great environmental adaptability and outstanding nutritional properties. DNA Res. 23:6, 535-546. https://doi.org/10.1093/dnares/dsw037 

Mizuno, N., Toyoshima, M., Fujita, M., Fukuda, S., Kobayashi, Y., Ueno, M., Tanaka, K., Tanaka, T., Nishihara, E., Mizukoshi, H., Yasui, Y. & Fujita, Y. (2020). The genotype-dependent phenotypic landscape of quinoa in salt tolerance and key growth traits. DNA Res. 27: 4, dsaa022. https://doi.org/10.1093/dnares/dsaa022

Ogata, T., Toyoshima, M., Yamamizo-Oda, C., Kobayashi, Y., Fujii, K., Tanaka, K., Tanaka, T., Mizukoshi, H., Yasui, Y., Nagatoshi, Y., Yoshikawa, N. & Fujita, Y. (2021). Virus-mediated transient expression techniques enable functional senomics studies and modulations of betalain biosynthesis and plant height in Quinoa. Front. Plant Sci.12,643499. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.643499 

Service, RF. (2023) Let there be dark. Science 380: 6649, 1004-1007. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj0814

Paul, AL., Elardo, SM. & Ferl, R. (2022) Plants grown in Apollo lunar regolith present stress-associated transcriptomes that inform prospects for lunar exploration. Commun. Biol. 5: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03334-8

Kasiviswanathan P, Swanner ED, Halverson LJ, & Vijayapalani P (2022). Farming on Mars: Treatment of basaltic regolith soil and briny water simulants sustains plant growth. PLOS ONE 17: 8, e0272209. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0272209

Totsline, N., Kniel, KE., Sabagyanam, C. & Bais, HP (2024). Simulated microgravity facilitates stomatal ingression by Salmonella in lettuce and suppresses a biocontrol agent. Sci. Rep. 14: 898. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-51573-y
 

Contributors: FUJITA Yasunari, NAGATOSHI Yukari, OGATA Takuya and KOBAYASHI Yasufumi (Biological Resources and Post-harvest Division)