Researchers Develop New Biotech Crops to Withstand Drought
Council for Biotechnology Information
July 10, 2007
Here is the excerpt of an article on biotech crops published by the Council for Biotechnology Information…
Excerpt…
Genetic 'survival skills' from hardy plants can be transferred to ag crops.
Dealing with drought and chronic water shortages may well be the agricultural challenge of the 21st century.
To help farmers meet that challenge, biotech researchers are developing new crop varieties designed to cope better in drier environments.
They’re taking clues from hardy survivors like the resurrection plant, a desert moss that can slow its activity down to zero when water’s scarce, and revive from almost complete dehydration.1 Once they’ve isolated the genetic key to that behavior, researchers hope to use biotechnology to transfer the plant’s survival skills, and traits from other dry-weather plants such as sorghum, to make corn and other agricultural crops more drought tolerant.
Several research projects are zeroing in on plants’ internal “software” — the signaling pathways that trigger behavior under drought conditions.
Scientists at the University of California–San Diego have discovered the biological Morse code plants use to open and close their stomata — the tiny breathing pores through which 95 percent of water loss occurs.2 Their next question: Can a plant be modified to close its stomatal pores more quickly in drought conditions, thereby conserving moisture?
Research into drought-tolerant plants is important because the world is getting drier. An expanding population that is growing more affluent creates more demand for food. Because about 70 percent of the fresh water people use every year goes to agriculture, water tables in many areas are falling. Arid regions in Africa, Asia and the Middle East are expanding while other areas, such as Brazil, are experiencing water shortages for the first time. If current consumption trends continue, two out of three people will live in water-stressed conditions by 2025, according to the U.N. Environment Program.3
In their current form, many crops drink deeply from the world’s dwindling water supply in order to survive — it takes about 106 gallons of water to grow a pound of wheat, for example.4
“Worldwide, drought is the biggest problem for food production,” said Jeffrey Bennetzen, a molecular geneticist at Purdue University, in a recent article in Science.5
Research into drought-defying crops is moving forward in several areas….
Full article at Council for Biotechnology Information.
