kayhan.ir

News ID: 50895
Publish Date : 07 March 2018 - 21:30

Scientists Engineer Crops to Resist Drought



WASHINGTON (Dispatches)-Scientists have improved how a crop uses water by 25 percent, without compromising yield, by altering the expression of one gene that is found in all plants.
The research is part of the international research project Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) that is supported by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, and the U.K. Department for International Development.
"This is a major breakthrough," said RIPE Director Stephen Long, Ikenberry Endowed Chair of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences. "Crop yields have steadily improved over the past 60 years, but the amount of water required to produce one ton of grain remains unchanged -- which led most to assume that this factor could not change. Proving that our theory works in practice should open the door to much more research and development to achieve this all-important goal for the future."
The international team increased the levels of a photosynthetic protein (PsbS) to conserve water by tricking plants into partially closing their stomata, the microscopic pores in the leaf that allow water to escape. Stomata are the gatekeepers to plants: When open, carbon dioxide enters the plant to fuel photosynthesis, but water is allowed to escape through the process of transpiration.
"These plants had more water than they needed, but that won't always be the case," said co-first author Katarzyna Glowacka, a postdoctoral researcher who led this research at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB). "When water is limited, these modified plants will grow faster and yield more -- they will pay less of a penalty than their non-modified counterparts."