Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 74-86 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Plant biotechnology journal |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 5 Jul 2020 |
| Publication status | Published - 28 Dec 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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.
Keywords
- abiotic stress, Arabidopsis thaliana, drought stress, Nicotiana tabacum, salt stress, stress tolerance, synthetic biology, water-use efficiency
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Agronomy and Crop Science
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Biotechnology
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Plant Science
Sustainable Development Goals
Cite this
- Standard
- Harvard
- Apa
- Vancouver
- BibTeX
- RIS
In: Plant biotechnology journal, Vol. 19, No. 1, 28.12.2020, p. 74-86.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Improving plant drought tolerance and growth under water limitation through combinatorial engineering of signalling networks
AU - Schulz, P.
AU - Piepenburg, K.
AU - Lintermann, R.
AU - Herde, M.
AU - Schöttler, M.A.
AU - Schmidt, Lena K.
AU - Ruf, S.
AU - Kudla, J.
AU - Romeis, T.
AU - Bock, R.
N1 - Funding information: [ We thank the MPI?MP GreenTeam for plant cultivation. This research project received funding from the Max Planck Society and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (ERC?ADG?2014; grant agreement No 669982) to R.B., and a joint grant from the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF grant No 0315959; CROPTIMISE) to T.R., J.K. and R.B. Open access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. We thank the MPI-MP GreenTeam for plant cultivation. This research project received funding from the Max Planck Society and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (ERC-ADG-2014; grant agreement No 669982) to R.B., and a joint grant from the Bundesministerium f?r Bildung und Forschung (BMBF grant No 0315959; CROPTIMISE) to T.R., J.K. and R.B. Open access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.
PY - 2020/12/28
Y1 - 2020/12/28
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - abiotic stress
KW - Arabidopsis thaliana
KW - drought stress
KW - Nicotiana tabacum
KW - salt stress
KW - stress tolerance
KW - synthetic biology
KW - water-use efficiency
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088437564&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/pbi.13441
DO - 10.1111/pbi.13441
M3 - Article
VL - 19
SP - 74
EP - 86
JO - Plant biotechnology journal
JF - Plant biotechnology journal
SN - 1467-7644
IS - 1
ER -