Rivero, RM; Kojima, M; Gepstein, A; Sakakibara, H; Mittler, R; Gepstein, S; Blumwald, E
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.. 2007 December. 104(49):19631-19636
Link to full text (open access, freely available)
PMID: 18048328 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0709453104 ISSN: 1091-6490
Drought, the most prominent threat to agricultural production worldwide, accelerates leaf senescence, leading to a decrease in canopy size, loss in photosynthesis and reduced yields. On the basis of the assumption that senescence is a type of cell death program that could be inappropriately activated during drought, we hypothesized that it may be possible to enhance drought tolerance by delaying drought-induced leaf senescence. We generated transgenic plants expressing an isopentenyltransferase gene driven by a stress- and maturation-induced promoter. Remarkably, the suppression of drought-induced leaf senescence resulted in outstanding drought tolerance as shown by, among other responses, vigorous growth after a long drought period that killed the control plants. The transgenic plants maintained high water contents and retained photosynthetic activity (albeit at a reduced level) during the drought. Moreover, the transgenic plants displayed minimal yield loss when watered with only 30% of the amount of water used under control conditions. The production of drought-tolerant crops able to grow under restricted water regimes without diminution of yield would minimize drought-related losses and ensure food production in water-limited lands.
Rivero, RM, M Kojima, A Gepstein, H Sakakibara, R Mittler, S Gepstein, E Blumwald. "Delayed leaf senescence induces extreme drought tolerance in a flowering plant." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 104.49 (2007): 19631-19636 . Web. 12 Oct. 2024.
Rivero, RM., Kojima, M., Gepstein, A., Sakakibara, H., Mittler, R., Gepstein, S., & Blumwald, E. (2007). Delayed leaf senescence induces extreme drought tolerance in a flowering plant. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A., 104(49), 19631-19636 . doi:10.1073/pnas.0709453104
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