A discovery was made from Tel Aviv University (Israel) Grow tomato varieties by consuming less water and without reducing their yield, quality and taste. Researchers used CRISPR gene editing technology, which is increasingly being used to adapt agricultural crops to increasingly arid and water-scarce conditions.
The results, published in the scientific journal PNAS, reveal areas where improvements need to be made in current tomato growing to avoid unnecessary use of water, a commodity that is also becoming increasingly scarce in Spain due to global warming.
Through sweating processPlants evaporate the water in their leaves. At the same time, carbon dioxide enters the leaves and turns into sugar through photosynthesis, which also takes place in the leaves. These two processes (sweating and carbon dioxide absorption) occur simultaneously. Special openings called stomata on the surface of leaves. Stomata can open and close as if they were a mechanism to regulate the water status of plants.
Researchers emphasize that in drought conditions, plants respond by closing their stomata, thus reducing water loss through transpiration.
The problem is that due to the inextricable link between water transpiration and carbon dioxide absorption, Closing of the stomata causes a decrease in CO2 absorption by the plant.. This leads to reduced sugar production through photosynthesis.
Because plants depend on sugar produced during photosynthesis as a source of vital energy, a decrease in this process negatively affects plant growth.
Decrease in photosynthetic sugar production in crop plants, reduction in both quantity and quality of harvest. For example, crop damage in tomatoes is manifested by a decrease in the number and weight of fruits and the amount of sugar in each fruit. Fruits with less sugar are less palatable and less nutritious.
The solution from genetic editing
In this study, researchers Caused a modification in tomato through genetic editing using the CRISPR methodIt targets a gene known as ROP9. ROP proteins function as switches that switch between an active or inactive state.
Professor Yalovsky said: “Using CRISPR technology, we found that knockdown of ROP9 causes partial closure of stomata. This effect is especially evident at noon, when the rate of water loss from plants in the transpiration process is highest.”
“In contrast, in the morning and afternoon, when the transpiration rate is lower, there was no significant difference in the rate of water loss between control plants and ROP9-modified plants. Because stomas remained open in the morning and afternoon“In ROP9-modified plants, even during the afternoon hours when the stomata were more closed, the plants were able to absorb sufficient carbon dioxide, preventing any decrease in sugar production through photosynthesis.”
To accurately assess the impact of modified ROP9 on crops, researchers They conducted an extensive field experiment with hundreds of plants.
The results revealed that, however ROP9-altered plants lose less water during the transpiration processIt has no negative effect on photosynthesis, quantity or quality of the crop (amount of sugar in the fruits).
Additionally, the study identified a new and unexpected mechanism that regulates the opening and closing of stomata.
Sade added: “There is a great similarity between ROP9 in tomato and the ROP proteins found in tomatoes. other cultivated plants such as pepper, eggplant and wheat. “Therefore, the discoveries we make may provide the basis for improving other crop plants with more efficiency in water use and a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that govern the opening and closing of stomata.”
Reference work: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2309006120
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