Our Proposal Summary:  

This experiment aims to observe the growth of fungus in space. Observing the growth of a fungus may provide a reasonable basis to hypothesize further about how things grow in space. The experiment will be carried out within a tube containing soil and Enokitaka spores. Enoki was selected because it is tall and slender, so it does not take up too much space in a confined area like the test tube. It will also be easy to measure, and differences in shape like bends and twists will be much easier to spot and measure. The experiment will be carried out the same on earth, and the ground copy will be used as a control (to observe differences accurately). The hypothesis is that our mushroom stem and mycelium will grow without specific direction, as well as be taller than the control fungus stem. The end goal of our project is to examine how microgravity affects the structure of an organism.  

This is an Enokitaka mushroom:

Naturel Enokitaka:

Cultivated Enoki: