A University of Florida researcher will have an experiment aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery for what could be its final mission.

Wagner Vendrame, an associate professor of environmental horticulture at UF’sTropical Research and Education Center in Homestead, is known for his work with biofuels. He’s been looking to develop new ways to propagate selected hybrids of the jatropha nut, because its oil holds great potential for use in biodiesel.

If Discovery launches as expected the evening of Nov. 1, the shuttle will carry an experiment designed to pinpoint genes that help or hinder growth in the jatropha plant to help determine whether it can be grown commercially in the southern United States.

Vendrame joined UF in 2001 and has more than 16 years of experience in plant micropropagation and biotechnology. His research program involves production and conservation of plants using tissue culture, molecular biology and cryopreservation techniques.

Vendrame has had several experiments in space, dating back to 2007, with an experiment aboard the International Space Station designed to evaluate the growth and multiplication of plant cell suspension cultures under microgravity.