Plants and microgravity: patterns of microgravity effects at the cellular and molecular levels.

An overview on the effects of real and simulated microgravity on certain cell components and processes, including new information obtained recently, is presented. Attention is focused on the influence of microgravity on the cytoplasmic membrane state, transcriptome and proteome, cell wall remodeling, and Ca2+-signaling in plant cells that are not specialised to gravity perception. It is emphasized the exceptional significance of the data on the organ-specific remodeling of the transcriptome and proteome in response to space flight, that discovers new advanced approaches to implement the fundamental and applied problems of plant space biology.