Breakthrough in plant genetics that could lead to crops that can survive drought - (Feb/27/2008 )

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7268079.stm?rss

scientists have made a drought proof crop, by using plant genetics.

let's just hope the weeds don't get these genes.

V

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They didn't produce drought-resistant plants. They just uncovered a pathway that may be useful for further crop improvement. From this to produce resistant plants goes a long long way.

What do you mean by weeds getting these genes? They also have them for sure

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i was playing on the irrational fears of people who wouldn't read the article (damm caught out).

yeah, it's still years away from actually creating a drought proof crop. still it's interesting how they my be able to control the pathway that opens and closes the pores in plants.

V

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The used as ever Arabidopsis, so a long way (ca 20 years as they wrote) until a commercial crop is available (luckily). And stomata control is only one basic way a plant deals with drought that each plant uses, also the non-drought resistant/tolerant ones. For real drought tolerance many other mechanisms (e.g. water proof surface, root system modifications, water storage, etc) are necessary. Finally in many crop species drought resistant varieties (often very old or forgotten) are available, but normally these are not high performance cultivars with huge yield. This would be a task for classical plant breeders: to cross high yield and drought-tolerant crops to a new cultivar with both characteristics.

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you know .. it would be revolutionary if you we can move the salt management and other tolerant salt systems from halophytes such as Mangroves tree and perhaps Salicornia to food crops. Such an organism would be able to grow in seawater! The sahara will a little earthmoving... (artificial lagoons) will bloom. ... yeah over optimistic... but it is a nice picture.

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would it be so bad to have artifical forrests in previously barren waste land?
especially in aus, where we have a massive salinity problem, having plants that could survive, might help lower the water table, and reduce salinity...

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it's not a matter about having artificial forests in wasteland. as an example you could google the baobab farm, it represents a remarkable example of how a "lost" field can be recovered. modified organisms to grow in seawater would be a great hit. some researchers have found that besides stomata also phosphorus related genes generate a significant higher number of lateral roots when stressed by this element, in a way that could aid the plant in salt / drought stress right?
i think the right term is not resistant but "tolerant" (to anything).

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salt tolerant is the right term...
still liking the idea of changing a wasteland into a forrest.

V

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indeed, the idea is beautiful i didn't mean the contrary at all. i just meant that the people at the farm i mentioned, located somewhere in africa, worked on a wasteland for several years and now it is a productive field. not impossible to recover all the wastelands created by humans. it only needs a lot of work and some investment, sooner or later it will have to be done.

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For wastelands resulting from anthropogenic use or better misuse I would agree. For deserts or seawater not. This are ecosystems with their own biodiversity. To change them for human use would result in species loss and unpredictable consequences (e.g. a crop growing in seawater spreads all-around and displacing water plants and animals. Or their decaying remains on the ground/sea bottom resulting in new oxygen-free wasteland. We have to be more careful than today (or yesterday).

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