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Cited by 15Plant Stress Responses and TolerancePlanetary Science and ExplorationPlant Growth and Agriculture Techniques

Effects of Mars global simulant (MGS-1) on growth and physiology of sweet potato: a space model plant

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Chinnannan, Karthik, Somagattu, Prapooja, Yammanuru, Hyndavi, Nimmakayala, Padma, Chakrabarti, Manohar, Reddy, Umesh K.·2023·Plants
DOI 10.3390/plants13010055PMC PMC10780443
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Abstract

Growing food autonomously on Mars is challenging due to the Martian soil’s low nutrient content and high salinity. Understanding how plants adapt and evaluating their nutritional attributes are pivotal for sustained Mars missions. This research delves into the regeneration, stress tolerance, and dietary metrics of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) across different Mars Global Simulant (MGS-1) concentrations (0, 25, 50, and 75%). In our greenhouse experiment, 75% MGS-1 concentration significantly inhibited sweet potato growth, storage root biomass, and chlorophyll content. This concentration also elevated the plant tissues’ H2O2, proline, and ascorbic acid levels. Higher MGS-1 exposures (50 and 75%) notably boosted the vital amino acids and sugar groups in the plant’s storage roots. However, increased MGS-1 concentrations notably diminished the total C:N ratio and elemental composition in both the vines and storage roots. In summary, sweet potato exhibited optimal growth, antioxidant properties, yield, and nutrient profiles at 25% MGS-1 exposure as compared to higher concentrations. This study underscores the need for future interventions, like nutrient enhancements and controlled metal accessibility, to render sweet potato a suitable plant for space-based studies.

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  • Plant growth in lunar and Martian regolith simulants is possible when nutrient supplementation is provided, particularly for simulants with lower pH levels.

    “Their findings show that growth is possible when nutrient supplementation is provided, particularly for simulants with lower pH levels (Eichler et al., 2021;Chinnannan et al., 2023).”

    From Spirulina supported plant growth in regolith simulants and elevated levels of CO2 (2025) · cites this paper as Chinnannan et al., 2023

    The Introduction reports that nutrient-supplemented lunar and Martian regolith simulants can support sweet potato growth, citing a prior study. The Discussion says supplementation is necessary for crop growth in Martian simulant. Neither passage links better growth to lower simulant pH, and the lunar-and-Martian finding is reported from prior work rather than this paper’s own experiment. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Sorted by citations

Authors
Chinnannan, K., Somagattu, P., Yammanuru, H., Nimmakayala, P., Chakrabarti, M., & Reddy, U. K.
Affiliations
  • Department of Biology, Gus R. Douglass Institute, West Virginia State University, Institute, WV 25112, USA
  • West Virginia State University (US)
  • The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (US)
Corresponding author
Reddy, Umesh K.
ORCID
Venue
Plants
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2023-12-23
Volume
13
Issue
1
Pages
55
ISSN
2223-7747 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/plants13010055
PMC
PMC10780443
OpenAlex
W4390176270
Cited by
15
References
6
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4
FWCI
2.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Plants (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Preprints.org (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ScholarWorks @ UTRGV (The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
NASA WV EPSCoR (NASA-EPSCoR-R3-21-0051)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Planetary Science and Exploration
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Plant Growth and Agriculture Techniques
Keywords
Ipomoea batatas, space agriculture, Martian soil, plant growth inhibition, stress tolerance, antioxidants, proline, vitamin C, hydrogen peroxide, amino acids, sugar content, C/N ratio, plant nutrition

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