Finding New Ways to Increase Yield under Mild Water Shortage

While other scientists are developing crops that can tolerate extreme droughts, Aleksandra Skirycz and colleagues at the Ghent University placed their focus on mild drought stress. They found out that plants designed to tolerate extreme stress do not grow better under mild drought conditions, which is usually the case. These plants were observed to actively choose to grow slower when water gets limiting, although enough resources are available to keep them growing.

They discovered further that the plant hormone ethylene plays a major role in stress response. The hormone shuts down leaf growth abruptly after the plant senses limited water availability. Thus, the researchers aim to find new techniques to develop plants that can grow mild and temporary drought spells and still use up available resources to increase productivity.

Read the media release at http://www.vib.be/en/news/Pages/A-new-strategy-for-drought-tolerant-crops-shutting-down-the-plant%E2%80%99s-growth-inhibition-in-case-of-mild-water-shortage-.aspx.