Researchers discover how to generate plants with enhanced drought resistance without penalizing growth
- By modifying steroid hormone signaling, a research team led by CRAG researcher Ana Caño-Delgado has obtained plants that are more resistant to water scarcity
- To this date, the scientific community had not been able to obtain a drought resistant plant without affecting plant growth
- Researchers are already working to apply this knowledge in cereals and horticultural species
Extreme drought is one of the effects of climate change that is already being perceived. This year, the decrease in rainfall and the abnormally hot temperatures in northern and eastern Europe have caused large losses in cereals and potato crops and in other horticultural species. Experts have long warned that to ensure food security it is becoming necessary to use plant varieties that are productive in drought conditions. Now, a team led by the researcher at the Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) Ana Caño-Delgado has obtained plants with increased drought resistance by modifying the signaling of the plant steroid hormones, known as brassinosteroids.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, is the first to find to find a strategy to increase hydric stress resistance without affecting overall plant growth.
Different receptors and different cells for different functions
Ana Caño-Delgado has been studying how the plant steroids -the brassinosteroids- regulate plant development and growth in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana for more than 15 years. It is known that these phytohormones bind to different cell membrane receptors, causing a signaling cascade in the cell that will end up producing effects such as cell elongation or division. Since 2016 and thanks to a project funded by the European Research Council (ERC), her laboratory uses this knowledge to find strategies that confer drought resistance to plants. By modifying brassinosteroid signaling researchers had so far achieved arabidopsis plants with increased drought ressistance, but due to the complex action of these hormones on plant growth, these plants were much smaller than the respective controls.
In the work now published in Nature Communications, researchers have studied drought resistance and growth in Arabidopsis thaliana plants with mutations in different brassinosteroid receptors. Thanks to this detailed study, researchers have discovered that plants that over-express the BRL3 brassinosteroid receptor in the vascular tissue are more resistant to the lack of water than control plants and that, unlike the other mutants, they do not present defects in their development and growth. “We have discovered that modifying brassinosteroid signaling only locally in the vascular system, we are able to obtain drought resistant plants without affecting their growth”, explains Caño-Delgado.
Afterwards, CRAG researchers in collaboration with researchers from Europe, the United States and Japan analyzed the metabolites in the genetically modified plants and demonstrated that arabidopsis plants overexpressing the BRL3 receptor produce more osmeoprotective metabolites (sugars and proline) in the aerial parts and in the roots under normal irrigation conditions. When these plants were exposed to drought conditions, these protective metabolites quickly accumulated in the roots, protecting them from drying out. Hence, the BRL3 overexpression prepares the plant to respond to the situation of water scarcity, a mechanism known as priming that can be somehow compared to the effect of the vaccines in the human body, which also prepare the body to respond to future pathogens.
From fundamental to applied research. A potential solution for species of agronomic interest
Although this discovery has been made with a small herb used as a model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, the research team led by Caño-Delgado is already working on applying this strategy in plants of agronomic interest, especially in cereals.
“Drought is one of the most important problems in today’s agriculture. So far, the biotechnological efforts that have been made to produce plants more resistant to drought have not been very successful because as a counterpart to an enhanced drought resistance there was always a decrease in plant growth and productivity. It seems that we have finally found a strategy that could be applied and we want to continue exploring it “, concludes Caño-Delgado.
Learn more: Researchers discover how to generate plants with enhanced drought resistance without penalizing growth
The Latest on: Drought resistance
[google_news title=”” keyword=”drought resistance” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Drought resistance
- Snow drought in Northwest, mountains ignites wildfire and water rationing fearson May 12, 2024 at 4:38 pm
Record snowmelt during a heatwave in April set off alarm bells in some western states. That resulted in a snow drought robbing regions of fresh water, soil moisture and reservoir and groundwater ...
- Fill Your Hanging Baskets With Silver Falls Plant For Drought-Tolerant Greeneryon May 12, 2024 at 3:30 pm
During the summer months, plants that you don't have to water on a routine basis can come in handy, which makes silver falls uniquely equipped for the season.
- Alberta towns offer incentives to replace grass lawns with drought-resistant alternativeson May 12, 2024 at 8:38 am
Drought conditions in Alberta have led the towns of Cochrane and Okotoks to offer residents financial incentives to replace their lawns with alternatives that use less water.
- Plenty of rain, but the drought in Iowa is not overon May 10, 2024 at 4:40 am
The rains falling on Iowa, are also providing some drought relief. According to the Drought Monitor, around 40% of the state is not under any form of drought. That’s an ...
- Drought Research Newson May 9, 2024 at 4:59 pm
Drought, Soil Desiccation Cracking, and Carbon Dioxide Emissions: An Overlooked Feedback Loop Exacerbating Climate Change Mar. 13, 2024 — Soil stores 80 percent of carbon on earth, yet with ...
- Rock on: Twin Falls residents employ drought-tolerant landscapingon May 9, 2024 at 7:29 am
Thanks to an alternative form of landscaping, some people are spending much less time mowing, fertilizing and weeding.
- Plant Drought Response Hormone Found to Block Spider Miteson May 8, 2024 at 11:15 am
Recent findings from the Sainsbury Laboratory of Cambridge have found a plant drought-survival mechanism to be useful as pest control.
- $519 million boost to help farmers mitigate impacts of droughton May 6, 2024 at 5:38 pm
The Albanese Labor Government will invest a record $519.1 million in Future Drought Fund programs to help farmers and regional communities prepare for the next drought and build climate resilience.
- Federal government to announce funding boost for farmers and regional communitieson May 6, 2024 at 3:30 pm
drought-resistant livestock feed and connecting farmers with the latest scientific advice on reducing drought impacts. “Our commitment of nearly $520m from the FDF supports farmers and farming ...
via Bing News