A New Electronically Monitored Centrifuge for the Analysis of Plant Growth in Simulated Hypergravity

Hypergravity is able to stimulate at a cellular level both the lignin formation and the peroxidase enzyme action in plants. Centrifuges have proven to be one of the most important tools for researchers for simulating such conditions. This paper presents a new design for a centrifuge simulating hypergravity used for plant experiments. It represents a more robust and completely redesigned equipment based on a previous centrifuge project by the MicroG Centre. Distinct experiments using plants have been performed in order to validate the centrifuge. Eruca Sativa Mill. samples have undergone growth and germination whilst being submitted to spinning at +7G, both in the new and in a pre-existing centrifuge. The obtained results have been compared to each other and to samples grown under conditions of 1 Gz.