Lipid Rafts and Plant Gravisensitivity

The necessity to include plants as a component of a Bioregenerative Life Support System leads to investigations to optimize plant growth facilities as well as a better understanding of the plant cell membrane and its numerous activities in the signaling, transport, and sensing of gravity, drought, and other stressors. The cell membrane participates in numerous processes, including endo- and exocytosis and cell division, and is involved in the response to external stimuli. Variable but stabilized microdomains form in membranes that include specific lipids and proteins that became known as (detergent-resistant) membrane microdomains, or lipid rafts with various subclassifications. The composition, especially the sterol-dependent recruitment of specific proteins affects endo- and exo-membrane domains as well as plasmodesmata. The enhanced saturated fatty acid content in lipid rafts after clinorotation suggests increased rigidity and reduced membrane permeability as a primary response to abiotic and mechanical stress. These results can also be obtained with lipid-sensitive stains. The linkage of the CM to the cytoskeleton via rafts is part of the complex interactions between lipid microdomains, mechanosensitive ion channels, and the organization of the cytoskeleton. These intricately linked structures and functions provide multiple future research directions to elucidate the role of lipid rafts in physiological processes.