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THE ORIENTATION OF HELICAL SECONDARY CELL WALLS OF PLANTS FROM THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN HEMISPHERES.  Blake P. Johnson and James G. Taylor.  Department of Biological Sciences, Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

     Long-term space travel must include the growth and maintenance of plants in space. Understanding the basic developmental characteristics of plants is essential in establishing a system that could be maintained in a weightless environment. Plant secondary cell walls are important in overall plant development and a greater understanding of this process can give better insight into plant viability. This research investigates the established helical secondary wall pattern of xylem cells in developing plants in the northern hemisphere and compares that pattern to differences that may be found in the same species native to the southern hemisphere.  Differences may be found between the northern and southern hemispheres due to the Coriolis Effect. This effect is a very weak influence that exists due to the rotation of the earth and is responsible for the counter-clockwise rotation of weather patterns in the northern hemisphere and clockwise rotation of weather patterns in the southern hemisphere.  Microscopic analysis of specimens from South America, South Africa, and China has demonstrated a counter-clockwise orientation of the helical cell walls in plants grown in those locations. These results indicate that the Coriolis Effect does not influence the orientation of the helical cell walls observed in these specimens.

     (Supported by NASA: OBU11043 and OBU11042)