ARTICLE: Crop Armor
The following is an excerpt of an article in The Progressive Farmer about genetic researchers learning more about how plants naturally protect themselves through tough times.
An army of scientists is hard at work to understand how plants sense, defend and adapt to harsh environments.
"Plants can't relocate when conditions get tough. Survival relies on swiftly detecting changes and deploying the necessary defense strategies," explained Jian-Kang Zhu, distinguished professor of plant biology at Purdue University.
STRESS SHIELD
"Most crops are bred for high yields, but they have become very sensitive to harsh environments," he continued. "With climate change, environmental conditions are becoming more extreme. Fresh water is getting more scarce; too much soil salinity is developing in parts of the world; and hot and cold temperatures are accelerating. There's a push to develop technologies to help crops withstand these changes."
Following are a few examples of some of the promising research scientists are working on to minimize the adverse effects of stress on crops.
SORTING THROUGH GENES
Genes hold the key to developing many new technologies, Zhu explained. "It's a complicated process because there are so many genes at play. We've learned a great deal about the physiology of how plants respond to stress, but we know much less about the genetic controls in the plant."
To address drought stress, Zhu's lab team has learned how plants produce a chemical known as a plant stress hormone. "When there's not enough water, plants produce significant amounts of this chemical, and plant proteins bind to this," he said. "We now know the receptor and how it triggers other proteins to work. Many genes regulate hormones that will interact with proteins to protect plant cells from dehydration. We've learned about these critical pathways of plant response, and it looks promising."
His team also has discovered some key genes -- the transporters -- that help plants manage the stress of toxic salt in the soil.
Freezing stress is another area researchers are working on to identify and select appropriate genes. "When a plant cell experiences freezing, it draws water from within the cell, which leads to dehydration," Zhu explained. "Many genes help regulate plant responses to dehydration stress from freezing. We still need to know more about how to find genes that turn on the plant's ability to protect against dehydration."
To read the entire article, please visit The Progressive Farmer website.
