My research helps set the groundwork for Project TASTIE (Trichoderma Associate Space Tomato Inoculation Experiment) which is projected to fly aboard the Internation Space Station in early 2023. It will be the first plant-fungal interaction experiment in microgravity, and it is through the Gilroy Life Sciences Lab. Please visit the lab's site (here) to learn more about this experiment as well as their many other successful spaceflight experiments.
Green fluorescence is an auxin response marker. Auxins control the growth of plants by promoting cell division and causing elongation in plant cells.
Roots with direct contact to Trichoderma. In an untreated plant, you would find the green glow localized in the root tips and locations of lateral root growth.
Glowing roots and root cap due to Trichoderma hyphal contact.
Root tip glowing at root cap due to normal growth - No Trichoderma present.
Root system not in the presence of T. harzianum. While faint, there are glowing spots on the root where lateral roots will emerge and two glowing root caps.
Lawn of Trichoderma harzianum on potato dextrose agar
Arabidopsis thaliana in high light stress in the presence of T. harzianum
A. thaliana in high light stress without the presence of T. harzianum
A. thaliana before being overgrown by T. harzianum on the bottom of the plate.