Friday, 10 January 2025
Scientists have discovered how plants adapt their root systems in drought conditions to grow steeper into the soil to access deeper water reserves.
Plant scientists from the University of Nottingham, in collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, have identified how abscisic acid (ABA), a plant hormone known for its role in drought response, influences root growth angles in cereal crops such as rice and maize. The results have been published in Current Biology.
The study highlights how ABA and auxin, another key hormone, work together to shape root growth angle, providing a potential strategy to develop drought-resistant crops with improved root system architecture.
Drought poses a major threat to global food security, and enhancing the ability of crops to withstand water shortages is crucial. Drought, a major abiotic stressor, has caused substantial crop production losses of approximately $30 billion over the past decade. Climate change, particularly global warming, has further intensified drought conditions worldwide. With a projected population of 10 billion by 2050 and serious freshwater depletion, developing drought-resistant crops is of paramount importance
Plants rely on their root systems, the primary organs for interacting with soil, to actively seek water. In drought conditions, water often depletes in the topsoil and remains accessible only in the deeper subsoil layers. Abscisic acid (ABA) plays an important role in helping plants adapt to these challenging conditions. This new study gives new insights into how ABA changes root growth angles to enable plants to reach out deeper subsoils in search of water.
The researchers discovered a new mechanism where ABA promotes the production of auxin, which enhances root gravitropism to grow them at steeper angles in response to drought. Experiments showed that plants with genetic mutations that block ABA production had shallower root angles and weaker root bending response to gravity compared to normal plants. These defects were linked to lower auxin levels in their roots. By adding auxin externally, the researchers restored normal root growth in these mutants, showing that auxin is key to this process.
The findings were consistent across both rice and maize, suggesting that this mechanism could apply to other cereal crops as well.
Finding ways to tackle food insecurity is vital and the more we understand the mechanisms that control plant growth, the closer we are to designing systems to help plants to do this and improve crop yields during droughts.”
Story credits
More information is available from Dr Rahul Bhosale on Rahul.bhosale@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
More news…