Nuclear Factor Confers Drought Tolerance in Maize

Improvement of the plants’ productivity under periodic drought stress is one of the formidable challenges faced by agriculture. Since drought resistance is a complex trait and because of the unpredictable nature of drought stress, the development of crop varieties that can survive drought and at the same time produce high yields remains challenging. Using a functional genomics approach with Arabidopsis as the model plant, researchers from Monsanto Company and Mendel Biotechnology Inc identified a transcription factor (molecules that bind to the DNA to regulate its activity) from the nuclear factor Y family (NF-Y) that can confer improved drought stress tolerance to Arabidopsis. The transcription factor, AtNF-YB1, acts in a previously undescribed mechanism. A similar protein, ZmNF-YB2, was identified in maize.

Maize with increased ZmNF-YB2 expression showed greater tolerance during water-limited conditions. Drought tolerance was measured using stress-related parameters such as stomatal conductance, reduced wilting of leaves, leaf temperature and maintenance of photosynthesis. The application of the discovery is expected to have the most significant impact on severely water-limited maize production systems. Further studies are being made to control the expression of these transcription factors.

Read the more at http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0707193104v1 and http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/0707193104v1