Bdelloid biology in space

A biological experiment has been approved by ESA (http://www.esa.it/) and NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/) and is actually scheduled on the International Space Station (http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/index-m.html). The experiment is being accomodated in the Modular Cultivation System (MCS), and is currently planned for launch on Shuttle flight UF-3.
The research project focuses on the role of the cytoskeleton during oogenesis and early developmental events. The animals proposed are aquatic microinvertebrates, that are characterized by small body size, short life cycle, parthenogenetic reproduction with spiral cleavage, eutely and capacity to survive desiccation of their habitat by entering a dormant stage called anhydrobiosis. Two species are considered for the study: a bdelloid rotifer and a nematode. Assuming that the eggs produced by mothers exposed to microgravity will reflect the perturbation occurred in the spatial arrangement of microfilaments during the synthesis of the cytoplasm, the role of cytoskeleton will be evaluated by studying the embryo morphology of animals exposed to microgravity.