title: Fate of allelopathic substances in space--allelopathy of velvet bean plant and gravity.
abstract: Interactions between organisms and species have been long known. It has not been known that the interactive phenomena (allelopathy) may (or may not) differ in space from those on earth. We have studied the gravitational effects on allelopathy by exposing a plant-plant system to pseudo-microgravity, which was generated by a 3D-clinostat. We hypothesized that allelopathy would be modified under altered gravity. L-DOPA (L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) is known to be the major substance in the allelopathy of velvet bean, released from its root. It has been found that there have been some differences of the allelopathic action of velvet bean plant under pseudo-microgravity. Biosynthesis, release, transport and sensing mechanism associated with allelopathy might be affected by gravity.
authors.affiliation: University of Tsukuba.
authors.forename: Kaori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tomita-Yokotani
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Yoshiharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Teruko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Masamichi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamashita
mesh_terms: D007980:Levodopa / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D031299:Mucuna / Q000378:metabolism*; D010675:Pheromones / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000378:metabolism; D012399:Rotation; D018474:Weightlessness Simulation
chemical_list: D010675:Pheromones; D007980:Levodopa