Scientists have made a breakthrough in the production of flood-tolerant crops.
Researchers from the University of Nottingham, working in collaboration with the University of California, Riverside have identified the molecular mechanism plants use to sense low oxygen levels. This discovery could eventually lead to the production of high-yielding, flood-tolerant fresh produce crops benefiting growers, markets and consumers across the globe.
The mechanism controls key proteins in plants, causing them to be unstable when oxygen levels are normal.When roots or shoots are flooded and oxygen levels drop, these proteins become stable.
Michael Holdsworth, professor of crop science in the school of biosciences at Nottingham, said: “The mechanism controls key regulatory proteins called transcription factors that can turn other genes on and off. It is the unusual structure of these proteins that destines them for destruction under normal oxygen levels, but when oxygen levels decline, they become stable.”
The research team expects that over the next decade scientists will be able to manipulate the protein-turnover mechanism in a wide range of crops prone to damage by flooding. “Because we have identified this mechanism, we have been able to provide breeders with targets and it shows that it is possible to breed and make plants more resistant to flooding,” said Holdsworth.
“The next step is for breeders is to see if there is any variation in the genes we have identified as being important... but that is a decade-long project.”
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