Is this project an undergraduate, graduate, or faculty project?
Undergraduate
group
What campus are you from?
Daytona Beach
Authors' Class Standing
Stefani Capasso Villanueva, Junior Nupur Kulkarni, Graduate Student
Lead Presenter's Name
Stefani Capasso Villanueva
Faculty Mentor Name
Hugo Castillo
Abstract
Establishing functional plant–microbe systems in extraterrestrial substrates is critical for sustainable lunar agriculture. We tested whether manure amendment and Mizuna mustard (Brassica rapa var. japonica) rhizosphere activity enhance the metabolic potential of a lunar regolith simulant (LHS-1). Plants were grown in four treatments: Unplanted manure-amended regolith (LRM), planted manure-amended regolith (LRMP), planted unamended regolith (LRP), and soil controls. Plant height and community-level physiological profiles (CLPP; Biolog EcoPlates) were measured to assess growth and metabolic diversity. Mizuna grew best in soil, with modest improvements in LRMP compared to LRP, though regolith treatment differences were not statistically significant. CLPP revealed the highest substrate-use diversity and intensity in LRMP, especially for carbohydrates, amino acids, polymers, and carboxylic acids. Unplanted and unamended treatments displayed reduced activity. Together, manure amendment and rhizosphere processes significantly increased microbial metabolism in regolith, demonstrating a biologically driven pathway to mature inert substrates for extraterrestrial crop cultivation.
Did this research project receive funding support from the Office of Undergraduate Research.
No
Included in
Growing Plants on the Moon: How Mizuna Roots and Organic Matter Spark Microbial Metabolism
Establishing functional plant–microbe systems in extraterrestrial substrates is critical for sustainable lunar agriculture. We tested whether manure amendment and Mizuna mustard (Brassica rapa var. japonica) rhizosphere activity enhance the metabolic potential of a lunar regolith simulant (LHS-1). Plants were grown in four treatments: Unplanted manure-amended regolith (LRM), planted manure-amended regolith (LRMP), planted unamended regolith (LRP), and soil controls. Plant height and community-level physiological profiles (CLPP; Biolog EcoPlates) were measured to assess growth and metabolic diversity. Mizuna grew best in soil, with modest improvements in LRMP compared to LRP, though regolith treatment differences were not statistically significant. CLPP revealed the highest substrate-use diversity and intensity in LRMP, especially for carbohydrates, amino acids, polymers, and carboxylic acids. Unplanted and unamended treatments displayed reduced activity. Together, manure amendment and rhizosphere processes significantly increased microbial metabolism in regolith, demonstrating a biologically driven pathway to mature inert substrates for extraterrestrial crop cultivation.