The tomato seeds
The tomato seeds that classes will be germinating this year come from traditional seed production methods; they have not been developed through the use of biotechnology.
They are a hybrid variety of seed from H.J. Heinz Canada - H9478. They produce a plum tomato that was developed using standard crossing techniques by horticulturalist Dale Smith, a member of the original Science Committee on the Tomatosphere Project Team. Dale now works for HeinzSeed in Stockton, California but he maintains a close relationship with the project, along with his Canadian colleague, Scott Makey, from Heinz Canada.
At one point H9748 occupied nearly 50% of the Heinz acreage; today, H9478 is still grown by Heinz Canada tomato growers but newer varieties with improved field and factory characteristics have supplanted some of the acreage previously grown. H9478 is a versatile variety used for tomato paste products, fresh juice, and whole peel. The plants will produce mature fruit in a period of 95 to 105 days depending upon growing conditions. Not only is H9478 an important variety for Heinz Canada, but also is popular with other Eastern North American companies and is also grown widely in Italy, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
The tomato seeds for 2011 will be in two envelopes - labelled ”M” and “D”. The seeds have been identified with these initials as a tribute to the contributions made to the Canadian space program and to Tomatosphere by the principal investigator of the Tomatosphere Project, Dr. Michael Dixon of the University of Guelph. Mike has given many volunteer hours to the project and is a recipient of the prestigious Paul Harris Award, a Rotary recognition of his contribution to the project. See the Media Room – Project Leaders for more information on Dr. Dixon.
One package of seeds is a control group and the other is the "treatment" group. The identity of the treatment package (i.e. M or D) will be revealed at the end of the experiment. The treatment group of Tomatosphere seeds was subjected to a simulated space environment at the University of Guelph for a 3-month time period. The simulation approximates what might happen to the seeds if there was a breach in the storage system on a vehicle (with astronauts) going to Mars for the first time. While on Mars, astronauts will have to grow some of their own food. The tomato may be a candidate for a “farm on Mars”.
Consider the following scenario...
We are on the way to Mars and a sensor indicates some kind of problem with a storage container on the outside of the space vehicle. This container is where the tomato seeds have been stowed. The container is examined by an astronaut on a “spacewalk” – an extravehicular activity or EVA – who indeed finds there is a problem with the storage system. Plans are made on Earth to troubleshoot the problem and a few weeks later an astronaut conducts another EVA to fix the problem. However, some time has passed and the seeds have been exposed to extremely cold temperatures (-90oC) and very low atmospheric pressure (almost a vacuum). The problem with the storage container is fixed – BUT, HOW WILL THIS AFFECT THE SEEDS THAT WE WILL USE TO GROW TOMATOES ONCE WE GET TO THE SURFACE OF MARS?
Tomatosphere is sponsored by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian Space Agency, Heinz Canada Ltd, HeinzSeed, Ontario Centres of Excellence, Stokes Seeds and the University of Guelph.
