The TAGES Imaging System: Optimizing a Green Fluorescent Protein Imaging System for Plants 2003-01-2477

The use of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) as a reporter gene system is an accurate and non destructive means for generating organ, tissue and cell-specific data on gene expression in plants. While many commercial imagining systems are available for standard terrestrial laboratory imaging of GFP, none of these systems begin to meet the requirements for a flight unit that could be utilized to monitor plant gene expression in spaceflight habitats. We present here data derived from ground testing of a prototype GFP flight imaging unit, the TAGES Imaging System (TIS). The TIS software is designed to collect multiple images of the same view to facilitate the stacking of the images for enhanced detail resolution. Analyses of stacking software and tactics for improving resolution are being evaluated. The TIS is being developed as a component of the payload hardware design of the next generation of Plant Growth Facility (PGF).