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Growth Potency of Statoconia (Otoliths) in the Organ of Equilibrium of Gastropod Mollusks in Weightlessness (Statokonia)
04.26.13

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Overview | Description | Applications | Operations | Results | Publications | Imagery

Experiment Overview

This content was provided by G. I. Gorgiladze, Ph.D., and is maintained in a database by the ISS Program Science Office.

Brief Summary

Statokonia (Statoconia) investigates the development of gravity sensing organs called statoconia in snails. Snails use these organs to sense gravity and are responsible for the snail's normal preference for downward crawling on a vertical plate on Earth. Earlier studies have shown that snails that hatch and develop in space will form larger statoconia to compensate for the reduced gravity levels there.

Principal Investigator(s)

  • G. I. Gorgiladze, Ph.D., Russia

    • Co-Investigator(s)/Collaborator(s)

    Information Pending

    Developer(s)
    Information Pending

    Sponsoring Space Agency

    Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos)

    Sponsoring Organization

    Information Pending

    Research Benefits

    Information Pending

    ISS Expedition Duration:

    April 2005 - October 2007

    Expeditions Assigned

    11,12,13,14,15

    Previous ISS Missions

    Information Pending

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    Experiment Description

    Research Overview

    Information Pending

    Description

    Study of ultrastructure, composition by elements and morphometry of statokonias. Study of statokonia regeneration and growth.

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    Applications

    Space Applications

    Information Pending

    Earth Applications

    Information Pending

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    Operations

    Operational Requirements

    Ulitka Incubator, ART Pouch.

    Operational Protocols

    Bring Snails into microgravity environment for an extended period of time, then return to Earth.

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    Results/More Information

    The incubator Ulitka delivered back to Earth, and information concerning the experiment conditions made available by means of the independently operating temperature recorder.

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    Results Publications

      Gorgiladze GI.  Morphological features of the inertial mass in statocysts of the terrestrial gastropods Helix lucorum and Pomatias rivulare exposed to microgravity    . Doklady Biological Sciences. 2010 08/17/2010; 433(1): 271-274. DOI: 10.1134/S0012496610040101. [Original Russian Text © G.I. Gorgiladze, 2010, published in Doklady Akademii Nauk, 2010, Vol. 433, No. 4, pp. 566–569.]
      Gorgiladze GI.  Regenerative capacity of the planarian Girardia tigrina and the snail Helix lucorum exposed to microgravity during an orbital flight on board the international space station    . Doklady Biological Sciences. 2008 08/20/2008; 421(1): 244-247. DOI: 10.1134/S0012496608040078. [Original Russian Text © G.I. Gorgiladze, 2008, published in Doklady Akademii Nauk, 2008, Vol. 421, No. 1, pp. 131–134.]

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    Ground Based Results Publications

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    ISS Patents

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    Related Publications

      Balaban PM, Malyshev AY, Ierusalimsky VN, Aseyev N, Korshunova TA, Bravarenko NI, Lemak MS, Roshchin M, Zakharov IS, Popova Y, Boyle RD.  Functional Changes in the Snail Statocyst System Elicited by Microgravity. PLOS ONE. 2011 03/29/2011; 6(3): e17710. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017710.

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    Related Websites
  • Coordinating Scientific and Technical Council of the Russian Space Agency [Russian]
  • Energia - Science Research on the ISS Russian Segment

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    Imagery

    image Ulitka Incubator.
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    image ART pouch.
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    Information provided by the investigation team to the ISS Program Scientist's Office.
    If updates are needed to the summary please contact JSC-ISS-Program-Science-Group. For other general questions regarding space station research and technology, please feel free to call our help line at 281-244-6187 or e-mail at JSC-ISS-Research-Helpline.
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