Tag: Drought stress

Wheat is a major global crop, but its yields are severely compromised by drought, thus developing varieties with a higher drought tolerance is important. Emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum) is a wheat ancestor that contains more genetic diversity than cultivated varieties, so it can be used in genome wide…

Drought stress is a major problem and can cause large reductions in yield. Water productivity is the amount of yield per unit of water used, hence a higher water productivity is associated with more drought tolerance. Here, Zaïm et al. discovered three genomic loci associated with increased water productivity…

When we speak about rice, we’re often referring to one of two domesticated species, Oryza japonica or Oryza indica. However, there are an additional 25 species in the genus Oryza. These so-called wild relatives harbor substantial genetic diversity that holds promise for crop improvement. Here, Prakash…

Water uptake by roots is controlled by two factors: the architecture of the root system, and its hydraulic capacity. The later property is largely determined by the anatomical and physiological properties of the root cells, which include things like suberization and the presence of aquaporins (regulated…

C4 and CAM are both photosynthetic strategies that concentrate CO2 upstream of RuBisCO, somewhat uncoupling photosynthetic carbon fixation from transpirational water loss. Both strategies use the enzyme PEP-carboxylase to produce an organic acid, which can then be decarboxylated to provide CO2 to RuBisCO.…

Author(s) and Institutions: Leelyn Chong and Yingfang Zhu State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China Sanya Institute, Henan University, Sanya, 572025, China Leelyn Chong and colleagues provide cues as to how plants…