Abstract
Introduction: Technological advances have made possible long space travels and even exoplanetary colonies in the future. Nevertheless, the success of these activities depends on our ability to produce edible plants in stressful conditions such as high radiation, extreme temperatures and low oxygen levels. Since beneficial microorganisms, such as fungal endophytes from extreme environments, have helped agriculture cope with those difficulties, endophytic fungi may be a putative tool to ensure plant growth under exoplanetary conditions. Additionally, growing crops in polyculture has been shown to increase productivity and spatial efficiency, which is essential given the likely space restrictions in such conditions. Methods: We evaluated the effect of the inoculation with a mix of two fungal endophytes from the Atacama Desert on performance (survival and biomass) and nutritional quality of three crop species (lettuce, chard and spinach) grown under exoplanetary conditions. In addition, we measured the amount of antioxidants (flavonoids and phenolics) as possible mechanisms to cope with such abiotic conditions. The exoplanetary conditions were; high UV radiation, low temperature, low water availability, and low oxygen levels. These crops were put in growing chambers in monoculture, dual culture and polyculture (the three species in the same pot) for 30 days. Results and Discussion: Our results show that inoculation with extreme endophytes improved survival by ca. 15 - 35% and biomass by ca. 30 - 35% in all crop species. The most evident increase was when grown in polyculture, except for survival in spinach, where inoculated plants had higher survival only in dual culture. Nutritional quality and the amount of the antioxidant compounds antioxidants increased in all crop species when inoculated with the endophytes. Overall, fungal endophytes isolated from extreme environments such as the Atacama Desert, the driest desert in the world, could be a key biotechnological tool for future space agriculture, helping plants cope with environmental stress. Additionally, inoculated plants should be grown in polyculture to increase crop turnover and space-use efficiency. Lastly, these results provide useful insights to face the future challenges of space-farming.
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Claims 12
Claim · model-written summary
Inoculation improved lettuce survival by about 15–35%.
- Taxon
- lettuce
Lactuca sativae0 - Treatment
- inoculation with extreme endophytese1
- Interactor
- extreme endophytese1symbiont
- Outcome
- survivale1
- Direction
- improvede1
- Value
- ca. 15 - 35%e1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“three crop species (lettuce, chard and spinach)”
e1“inoculation with extreme endophytes improved survival by ca. 15 - 35% and biomass by ca. 30 - 35% in all crop species.”
Claim · model-written summary
Inoculation improved chard survival by about 15–35%.
- Taxon
- charde0
- Treatment
- inoculation with extreme endophytese1
- Interactor
- extreme endophytese1symbiont
- Outcome
- survivale1
- Direction
- improvede1
- Value
- ca. 15 - 35%e1
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“three crop species (lettuce, chard and spinach)”
e1“inoculation with extreme endophytes improved survival by ca. 15 - 35% and biomass by ca. 30 - 35% in all crop species.”
Claim · model-written summary
Inoculation improved spinach survival by about 15–35%, with higher survival only in dual culture.
- Taxon
- spinach
Spinacia oleraceae1 - Treatment
- inoculation with extreme endophytese0
- Interactor
- extreme endophytese0symbiont
- Outcome
- survivale0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Value
- ca. 15 - 35%e0
- Qualifier
- only in dual culturee1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“inoculation with extreme endophytes improved survival by ca. 15 - 35% and biomass by ca. 30 - 35% in all crop species.”
e1“except for survival in spinach, where inoculated plants had higher survival only in dual culture.”
Claim · model-written summary
Inoculation improved lettuce biomass by about 30–35%, most evidently in polyculture.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativae0
- Treatment
- inoculation with extreme endophytese1
- Interactor
- extreme endophytese1symbiont
- Outcome
- biomasse1
- Direction
- improvede1
- Value
- ca. 30 - 35%e1
- Qualifier
- grown in polyculturee2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“three crop species (lettuce, chard and spinach)”
e1“inoculation with extreme endophytes improved survival by ca. 15 - 35% and biomass by ca. 30 - 35% in all crop species.”
e2“The most evident increase was when grown in polyculture”
Claim · model-written summary
Inoculation improved chard biomass by about 30–35%, most evidently in polyculture.
- Taxon
- charde0
- Treatment
- inoculation with extreme endophytese1
- Interactor
- extreme endophytese1symbiont
- Outcome
- biomasse1
- Direction
- improvede1
- Value
- ca. 30 - 35%e1
- Qualifier
- grown in polyculturee2
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“three crop species (lettuce, chard and spinach)”
e1“inoculation with extreme endophytes improved survival by ca. 15 - 35% and biomass by ca. 30 - 35% in all crop species.”
e2“The most evident increase was when grown in polyculture”
Claim · model-written summary
Inoculation improved spinach biomass by about 30–35%, most evidently in polyculture.
- Taxon
- spinachSpinacia oleraceae0
- Treatment
- inoculation with extreme endophytese1
- Interactor
- extreme endophytese1symbiont
- Outcome
- biomasse1
- Direction
- improvede1
- Value
- ca. 30 - 35%e1
- Qualifier
- grown in polyculturee2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“three crop species (lettuce, chard and spinach)”
e1“inoculation with extreme endophytes improved survival by ca. 15 - 35% and biomass by ca. 30 - 35% in all crop species.”
e2“The most evident increase was when grown in polyculture”
Claim · model-written summary
Endophyte inoculation increased lettuce nutritional quality and antioxidant amounts.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativae0
- Treatment
- inoculated with the endophytese1
- Interactor
- endophytese1symbiont
- Outcome
- Nutritional quality and the amount of the antioxidant compounds antioxidantse1
- Direction
- increasede1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“three crop species (lettuce, chard and spinach)”
e1“Nutritional quality and the amount of the antioxidant compounds antioxidants increased in all crop species when inoculated with the endophytes.”
Claim · model-written summary
Endophyte inoculation increased chard nutritional quality and antioxidant amounts.
- Taxon
- charde0
- Treatment
- inoculated with the endophytese1
- Interactor
- endophytese1symbiont
- Outcome
- Nutritional quality and the amount of the antioxidant compounds antioxidantse1
- Direction
- increasede1
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“three crop species (lettuce, chard and spinach)”
e1“Nutritional quality and the amount of the antioxidant compounds antioxidants increased in all crop species when inoculated with the endophytes.”
Claim · model-written summary
Endophyte inoculation increased spinach nutritional quality and antioxidant amounts.
- Taxon
- spinachSpinacia oleraceae0
- Treatment
- inoculated with the endophytese1
- Interactor
- endophytese1symbiont
- Outcome
- Nutritional quality and the amount of the antioxidant compounds antioxidantse1
- Direction
- increasede1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“three crop species (lettuce, chard and spinach)”
e1“Nutritional quality and the amount of the antioxidant compounds antioxidants increased in all crop species when inoculated with the endophytes.”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend growing inoculated lettuce in polyculture for turnover and space efficiency.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativae0
- Outcome
- grown in polyculturee1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“three crop species (lettuce, chard and spinach)”
e1“inoculated plants should be grown in polyculture to increase crop turnover and space-use efficiency.”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend growing inoculated chard in polyculture for turnover and space efficiency.
Verbatim
e0“three crop species (lettuce, chard and spinach)”
e1“inoculated plants should be grown in polyculture to increase crop turnover and space-use efficiency.”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend growing inoculated spinach in polyculture for turnover and space efficiency.
- Taxon
- spinachSpinacia oleraceae0
- Outcome
- grown in polyculturee1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“three crop species (lettuce, chard and spinach)”
e1“inoculated plants should be grown in polyculture to increase crop turnover and space-use efficiency.”
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See all 111 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.