scholarly journals Yield stability for cereals in a changing climate

2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (7) ◽  
pp. 539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Powell ◽  
Xuemei Ji ◽  
Rudabe Ravash ◽  
Jane Edlington ◽  
Rudy Dolferus

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) forecasts a 34% increase in the world population by 2050. As a consequence, the productivity of important staple crops such as cereals needs to be boosted by an estimated 43%. This growth in cereal productivity will need to occur in a world with a changing climate, where more frequent weather extremes will impact on grain productivity. Improving cereal productivity will, therefore, not only be a matter of increasing yield potential of current germplasm, but also of improving yield stability through enhanced tolerance to abiotic stresses. Successful reproductive development in cereals is essential for grain productivity and environmental constraints (drought, cold, frost, heat and waterlogging) that are associated with climate change are likely to have severe effects on yield stability of cereal crops. Currently, genetic gains conferring improved abiotic stress tolerance in cereals is hampered by the lack of reliable screening methods, availability of suitable germplasm and poor knowledge about the physiological and molecular underpinnings of abiotic stress tolerance traits.

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael V. Mickelbart ◽  
Paul M. Hasegawa ◽  
Julia Bailey-Serres

2017 ◽  
Vol 155 (10) ◽  
pp. 1497-1507 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. K. TRIVEDI ◽  
L. ARYA ◽  
S. K. VERMA ◽  
R. K. TYAGI ◽  
A. HEMANTARANJAN

SUMMARYThe mountain ecosystem of the Central Himalayan Region is known for its diversity of crops and their wild relatives. In spite of adverse climatic conditions, this region is endowed with a rich diversity of millets. Hence, the aim of the present study was to explore, collect, conserve and evaluate the diversity of barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentacea) to find out the extent of diversity available in different traits and the traits responsible for abiotic stress tolerance, and to identify trait-specific accessions for crop improvement and also for the cultivation of millets in the region as well as in other similar agro-ecological regions. A total of 178 accessions were collected and evaluated for a range of morpho-physiological and biochemical traits. Significant variability was noted in days to 50% flowering, days to 80% maturity, 1000 seed weight and yield potential of the germplasm. These traits are considered to be crucial for tailoring new varieties for different agro-climatic conditions. Variations in biochemical traits such as lipid peroxidation (0·552–7·421 nmol malondialdehyde formed/mg protein/h), total glutathione (105·270–423·630 mmol/g fresh weight) and total ascorbate (4·980–9·880 mmol/g fresh weight) content indicate the potential of collected germplasm for abiotic stress tolerance. Principal component analysis also indicated that yield, superoxide dismutase activity, plant height, days to 50% flowering, catalase activity and glutathione content are suitable traits for screening large populations of millet and selection of suitable germplasm for crop improvement and cultivation. Trait-specific accessions identified in the present study could be useful in crop improvement programmes, climate-resilient agriculture and improving food security in areas with limited resources.


2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica BOSCAIU ◽  
Pilar M. DONAT ◽  
Josep LLINARES ◽  
Oscar VICENTE

Over the next few decades we must boost crop productivity if we are to feed a growing world population, which will reach more than 9×109 people by 2050; and we should do it in the frame of a sustainable agriculture, with an increasing scarcity of new arable land and of water for irrigation. For all important crops, average yields are only a fraction-somewhere between 20% and 50%-of record yields; these losses are mostly due to drought and high soil salinity, environmental conditions which will worsen in many regions because of global climate change. Therefore, the simplest way to increase agricultural productivity would be to improve the abiotic stress tolerance of crops. Considering the limitations of traditional plant breeding, the most promising strategy to achieve this goal will rely on the generation of transgenic plants expressing genes conferring tolerance. However, advances using this approach have been slow, since it requires a deep understanding of the mechanisms of plant stress tolerance, which are still largely unknown. Paradoxically, most studies on the responses of plants to abiotic stress have been performed using stress-sensitive species-such as Arabidopsis thaliana-although there are plants (halophytes, gypsophytes, xerophytes) adapted to extremely harsh environmental conditions in their natural habitats. We propose these wild stress-tolerant species as more suitable models to investigate these mechanisms, as well as a possible source of biotechnological tools (‘stress tolerance’ genes, stress-inducible promoters) for the genetic engineering of stress tolerance in crop plants.


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hemant B Kardile ◽  
◽  
Vikrant ◽  
Nirmal Kant Sharma ◽  
Ankita Sharma ◽  
...  

Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Antt Htet Wai ◽  
Muhammad Waseem ◽  
A B M Mahbub Morshed Khan ◽  
Ujjal Kumar Nath ◽  
Do Jin Lee ◽  
...  

Protein disulfide isomerases (PDI) and PDI-like proteins catalyze the formation and isomerization of protein disulfide bonds in the endoplasmic reticulum and prevent the buildup of misfolded proteins under abiotic stress conditions. In the present study, we conducted the first comprehensive genome-wide exploration of the PDI gene family in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). We identified 19 tomato PDI genes that were unevenly distributed on 8 of the 12 tomato chromosomes, with segmental duplications detected for 3 paralogous gene pairs. Expression profiling of the PDI genes revealed that most of them were differentially expressed across different organs and developmental stages of the fruit. Furthermore, most of the PDI genes were highly induced by heat, salt, and abscisic acid (ABA) treatments, while relatively few of the genes were induced by cold and nutrient and water deficit (NWD) stresses. The predominant expression of SlPDI1-1, SlPDI1-3, SlPDI1-4, SlPDI2-1, SlPDI4-1, and SlPDI5-1 in response to abiotic stress and ABA treatment suggested they play regulatory roles in abiotic stress tolerance in tomato in an ABA-dependent manner. Our results provide new insight into the structure and function of PDI genes and will be helpful for the selection of candidate genes involved in fruit development and abiotic stress tolerance in tomato.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 7235
Author(s):  
Md. Tahjib-Ul-Arif ◽  
Mst. Ishrat Zahan ◽  
Md. Masudul Karim ◽  
Shahin Imran ◽  
Charles T. Hunter ◽  
...  

Several recent studies have shown that citric acid/citrate (CA) can confer abiotic stress tolerance to plants. Exogenous CA application leads to improved growth and yield in crop plants under various abiotic stress conditions. Improved physiological outcomes are associated with higher photosynthetic rates, reduced reactive oxygen species, and better osmoregulation. Application of CA also induces antioxidant defense systems, promotes increased chlorophyll content, and affects secondary metabolism to limit plant growth restrictions under stress. In particular, CA has a major impact on relieving heavy metal stress by promoting precipitation, chelation, and sequestration of metal ions. This review summarizes the mechanisms that mediate CA-regulated changes in plants, primarily CA’s involvement in the control of physiological and molecular processes in plants under abiotic stress conditions. We also review genetic engineering strategies for CA-mediated abiotic stress tolerance. Finally, we propose a model to explain how CA’s position in complex metabolic networks involving the biosynthesis of phytohormones, amino acids, signaling molecules, and other secondary metabolites could explain some of its abiotic stress-ameliorating properties. This review summarizes our current understanding of CA-mediated abiotic stress tolerance and highlights areas where additional research is needed.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Abeer F. Desouky ◽  
Ahmed H. Ahmed ◽  
Hartmut Stützel ◽  
Hans-Jörg Jacobsen ◽  
Yi-Chen Pao ◽  
...  

Pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins are known to play relevant roles in plant defense against biotic and abiotic stresses. In the present study, we characterize the response of transgenic faba bean (Vicia faba L.) plants encoding a PR10a gene from potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) to salinity and drought. The transgene was under the mannopine synthetase (pMAS) promoter. PR10a-overexpressing faba bean plants showed better growth than the wild-type plants after 14 days of drought stress and 30 days of salt stress under hydroponic growth conditions. After removing the stress, the PR10a-plants returned to a normal state, while the wild-type plants could not be restored. Most importantly, there was no phenotypic difference between transgenic and non-transgenic faba bean plants under well-watered conditions. Evaluation of physiological parameters during salt stress showed lower Na+-content in the leaves of the transgenic plants, which would reduce the toxic effect. In addition, PR10a-plants were able to maintain vegetative growth and experienced fewer photosystem changes under both stresses and a lower level of osmotic stress injury under salt stress compared to wild-type plants. Taken together, our findings suggest that the PR10a gene from potato plays an important role in abiotic stress tolerance, probably by activation of stress-related physiological processes.


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