Improving plant drought tolerance and growth under water limitation through combinatorial engineering of signalling networks

verfasst von

P. Schulz, K. Piepenburg, R. Lintermann, M. Herde, M.A. Schöttler, Lena K. Schmidt, S. Ruf, J. Kudla, T. Romeis, R. Bock

Abstract

Agriculture is by far the biggest water consumer on our planet, accounting for 70 per cent of all freshwater withdrawals. Climate change and a growing world population increase pressure on agriculture to use water more efficiently (‘more crop per drop’). Water-use efficiency (WUE) and drought tolerance of crops are complex traits that are determined by many physiological processes whose interplay is not well understood. Here, we describe a combinatorial engineering approach to optimize signalling networks involved in the control of stress tolerance. Screening a large population of combinatorially transformed plant lines, we identified a combination of calcium-dependent protein kinase genes that confers enhanced drought stress tolerance and improved growth under water-limiting conditions. Targeted introduction of this gene combination into plants increased plant survival under drought and enhanced growth under water-limited conditions. Our work provides an efficient strategy for engineering complex signalling networks to improve plant performance under adverse environmental conditions, which does not depend on prior understanding of network function.

Externe Organisation(en)

Max-Planck-Institut für molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie
Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin)
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (WWU)

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Plant biotechnology journal

Band

19

Seiten

74-86

Anzahl der Seiten

13

ISSN

1467-7644

Publikationsdatum

28.12.2020

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Agronomie und Nutzpflanzenwissenschaften, Biotechnologie, Pflanzenkunde

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 6 – Sauberes Wasser und sanitäre Einrichtungen, SDG 13 – Klimaschutzmaßnahmen, SDG 15 – Lebensraum Land

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.13441 (Zugang: Offen)