Rice seeds that travel aboard the lunar probe Chang’e explode after returning to Earth. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Not only has Chang’e 5’s historic 23-day mission to China found valuable rocks and earth samples from the moon, but it has also brought back a group of seeds that traveled the farthest in history the country’s agriculture and forestry.
More than 30 varieties of seeds, including rice, oats, alfalfa and orchid, were placed inside the Chang’e 5 multimodal spacecraft and orbited around the moon for about 15 days.
Scientists wanted to know what would happen to the seeds after being exposed to a particular environment in a lunar orbit and also hoped that they could develop beneficial mutations.
The seeds were selected by several domestic organizations such as China Agricultural University, Beijing University of Forestry, South China Agricultural University and Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in a place-based breeding program organized by the Beijing-based China High-Tech Industry Association.
They were presented to the participating groups at a reception at the China National Space Administration on December 23.
Liu Jizhong, director of the administration’s Lunar Exploration and Space Program, said the program is the first time Chinese researchers have conducted mutation breeding experiments in deep space and provided good opportunities for scientists.
Professor Sun Yeqing from Dalian Marine University in the Liaoning region, who had her rice and Arabidopsis thaliana seeds aboard Chang’e 5, said the mission provided a valuable opportunity for researchers to reveal their seeds in a deep environment, which would allow them to deepen the study of the influence of cosmic rays on the growth and evolution of life on Earth.
Space-based mutation breeding refers to the process of exposing seeds to forces such as microgravity, vacuums and cosmic radiation during space and then sending them back to Earth for further observation and planting.
Researchers monitor and study several generations of plants grown from space-bred seeds and study their mutations – some positive and desirable and others negative. Those with advanced mutations will be retained and inspected, and introduced to farmers after certification and approval.
Space breeding can generate mutations faster and more conveniently than ground-based experiments and can introduce some desirable traits that are difficult to introduce.
Compared to naturally or normally bred plant varieties, place-developed varieties with advanced mutations typically show higher nutrient content, greater annual yield, shorter growth times and more vigor. prefer insect diseases and pests, researchers explained.
China conducted its first space breeding experiment in 1987, using satellite to transport seeds into space.
Since then, hundreds of seed and seeding species have traveled with dozens of Chinese spaceships, including the Shenzhou-manned spacecraft and recoverable satellites.
Space breeding has helped bring out more than 200 new varieties of mutated plants in China that have been approved for large-scale cultivation, from grains to vegetables and fruits, said Liang Xiaohong, executive vice chairman of the Industry Association China Advanced Technology. .
The Chang’e 5 robotic mission was launched by the Long March 5 heavy-duty rocket early November 24 in the Hainan region. The mission returned 1,731 grams of lunar rock and soil to Earth, marking a historic achievement 44 years after the last lunar materials were recovered.