Prelecionista: Leonardo Packer de Quadros
Orientador: Fabrício de Ávila Rodrigues
Data: Terça, 22/04/25, às 16h
Local: Anfiteatro do ESB-DFP

Resumo: As human space missions increase in complexity, duration, and distance – exemplified by upcoming missions to the Moon (Artemis III, NASA, 2027) and Mars (2030s, NASA and SpaceX) – the incorporation of plants into Life Support Systems becomes increasingly imperative to ensure the sustainability of spaceflight environments. To this end, numerous plant growth payload experiments have been conducted in space to generate data to support the effective implementation of Bioregenerative Life Support Systems in future long-duration missions. In this context, reports of two natural plant pathogens outbreaks and a plant pathology experiment revealed a significant increase in disease severity in space compared to terrestrial controls. The prevailing scientific hypothesis is that this increase in severity results from the up-regulation of pathogenicity and aggressiveness genes from the pathogen side combined with the down-regulation of plant defense mechanisms – both modulated by atypical space conditions, particularly microgravity and ionizing radiation. Given that such environmental factors are unprecedented in the evolutionary history of plants and plant pathogens, omics-based approaches have been employed to identify the biological functions – especially in plants – that are most sensitive to these stresses associated with spaceflight. Concomitantly, the development and application of onboard molecular detection protocols have proven to be strategic for the early diagnosis of plant diseases in space environments. Technologies such as automated nucleic acid extraction platforms (e.g., microHomogenizer™) and portable sequencing devices (e.g., MinION from Oxford Nanopore Technologies) provide robust and autonomous tools for the rapid and accurate detection of plant pathogens in confined and microgravity conditions, such as space modules. Given these advances, the development of integrated disease management protocols adapted to the space environment is essential. In a context where the use of chemical pesticides is highly restricted, such protocols should incorporate not only sanitary surveillance for crops, but also preventive strategies, including environmental control. The integration of these technologies represents a significant step towards establishing safe, resilient and functional space agriculture.