Increasing water‐use efficiency directly through genetic manipulation of stomatal density

Franks, Peter J.; Doheny‐Adams, Timothy; Britton‐Harper, Zoe J.; Gray, Julie E.

doi:10.1111/nph.13347

Cited by 295 publications

(283 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Light saturation ensures maximal photosynthetic CO 2 demand and may uncover differences in net CO 2 assimilation. However, such differences were not observed as reported for gas-exchange-restricted plants (30) despite the lower chloroplastidic CO 2 levels in the water-productive plants. Even at lowered environmental CO 2 concentrations that exacerbate CO 2 deficiencies for the carboxylation reaction, leaves of the RCAR lines showed comparable net CO 2 assimilation rates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 38%

Leveraging abscisic acid receptors for efficient water use in Arabidopsis

Yang

Liu

Tischer

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

111

141

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Plant growth requires the influx of atmospheric CO 2 through stomatal pores, and this carbon uptake for photosynthesis is inherently associated with a large efflux of water vapor. Under water deficit, plants reduce transpiration and are able to improve carbon for water exchange leading to higher water use efficiency (WUE). Whether increased WUE can be achieved without trade-offs in plant growth is debated. The signals mediating the WUE response under water deficit are not fully elucidated but involve the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA). ABA is perceived by a family of related receptors known to mediate acclimation responses and to reduce transpiration. We now show that enhanced stimulation of ABA signaling via distinct ABA receptors can result in plants constitutively growing at high WUE in the model species Arabidopsis. WUE was assessed by three independent approaches involving gravimetric analyses, 13 C discrimination studies of shoots and derived cellulose fractions, and by gas exchange measurements of whole plants and individual leaves. Plants expressing the ABA receptors RCAR6/PYL12 combined up to 40% increased WUE with high growth rates, i.e., are water productive. Water productivity was associated with maintenance of net carbon assimilation by compensatory increases of leaf CO 2 gradients, thereby sustaining biomass acquisition. Leaf surface temperatures and growth potentials of plants growing under well-watered conditions were found to be reliable indicators for water productivity. The study shows that ABA receptors can be explored to generate more plant biomass per water transpired, which is a prime goal for a more sustainable water use in agriculture.carbon assimilation | drought resistance | water deficit | water productivity | water use efficiency P lants are ferocious consumers of water, and plant transpiration is the dominant vector for water mobilization from terrestrial surfaces to the atmosphere (1). Plant transpiration is sustained by efficient water uptake through the root systems, which can comprise 500 m 2 of root surface and 500 km in combined length even in a single barley plant. Water is the major factor limiting crop productivity in the field (2). Thus, more than two-thirds of the fresh water resources used globally are channeled into agriculture, thereby contributing to potential social conflicts over water (3).Whereas the gas exchange of CO 2 and water vapor at the stomatal pore is a physical process controlled by both the ratio in partial pressure gradients and gas diffusivities (4, 5), terrestrial plants are able to capture carbon more efficiently under water deficit. Both short-term leaf gas exchange measurements and 13 C isotope discrimination analyses revealed increases of the instantaneous water use efficiency (insWUE) and intrinsic WUE (iWUE), respectively, by a factor of 1.5-2.5 in wheat and other species (6, 7). The underlying mechanisms, however, are not fully elucidated. Gains in WUE have been found to be associated with trade-offs in growth potential (8-10). WUE is control...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 38%

Leveraging abscisic acid receptors for efficient water use in Arabidopsis

Yang

Liu

Tischer

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

111

141

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“…Changes in D appear to be inextricably linked to changes in S, and it is the combination of S and D that determines g c(max) and g w(max) . There is a consistent negative relationship between S and D at all scales, including leaves within a single species (Franks et al, 2009), across species in a population (Hetherington and Woodward, 2003;Russo et al, 2010), through the fossil record (Franks and Beerling, 2009b), and across mutants of a single species where D is induced to vary by genetic manipulation (Doheny-Adams et al, 2012;Dow et al, 2014;Franks et al, 2015). This negative logarithmic relationship (often represented as a negative linear log-log plot) fundamentally constrains the adaptation and evolution of stomata under forcing by any environmental variable affecting leaf gas exchange.…”

Section: Stomatal Size Density and Conductance Through Deep Timementioning

confidence: 99%

Stomatal Function across Temporal and Spatial Scales: Deep-Time Trends, Land-Atmosphere Coupling and Global Models

et al. 2017

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“…2). These QTLs could also be related to differences in stomatal density, which is affected by water stress and ABA (49) and modulates TE (50). Further studies are required to dissect these previously unidentified QTLs of E n and their interaction with the severity of water stress.…”

Section: Lowering Nighttime Transpiration As a Breeding Strategy To Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced nighttime transpiration is a relevant breeding target for high water-use efficiency in grapevine

Coupel‐Ledru

Lebon

Christophe

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

123

101

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Increasing water scarcity challenges crop sustainability in many regions. As a consequence, the enhancement of transpiration efficiency (TE)-that is, the biomass produced per unit of water transpired-has become crucial in breeding programs. This could be achieved by reducing plant transpiration through a better closure of the stomatal pores at the leaf surface. However, this strategy generally also lowers growth, as stomatal opening is necessary for the capture of atmospheric CO 2 that feeds daytime photosynthesis. Here, we considered the reduction in transpiration rate at night (E n ) as a possible strategy to limit water use without altering growth. For this purpose, we carried out a genetic analysis for E n and TE in grapevine, a major crop in drought-prone areas. Using recently developed phenotyping facilities, potted plants of a cross between Syrah and Grenache cultivars were screened for 2 y under well-watered and moderate soil water deficit scenarios. High genetic variability was found for E n under both scenarios and was primarily associated with residual diffusion through the stomata. Five quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were detected that underlay genetic variability in E n . Interestingly, four of them colocalized with QTLs for TE. Moreover, genotypes with favorable alleles on these common QTLs exhibited reduced E n without altered growth. These results demonstrate the interest of breeding grapevine for lower water loss at night and pave the way to breeding other crops with this underexploited trait for higher TE.night transpiration | transpiration efficiency | growth | stomata | QTL

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Increasing water‐use efficiency directly through genetic manipulation of stomatal density

Cited by 295 publications

References 40 publications

Leveraging abscisic acid receptors for efficient water use in Arabidopsis

Leveraging abscisic acid receptors for efficient water use in Arabidopsis

Stomatal Function across Temporal and Spatial Scales: Deep-Time Trends, Land-Atmosphere Coupling and Global Models

Reduced nighttime transpiration is a relevant breeding target for high water-use efficiency in grapevine

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