Combining chemical and genetic approaches to increase drought resistance in plants

Min-Jie Cao, Yu-Lu Zhang, Xue Liu, Huan Huang, X. Edward Zhou, Wen-Long Wang, Ai Zeng, Chun-Zhao Zhao, Tong Si, Jiamu Du, Wen-Wu Wu, Fu-Xing Wang, H. Eric Xu and Jian-Kang Zhu ()
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Min-Jie Cao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yu-Lu Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xue Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Huan Huang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
X. Edward Zhou: Van Andel Research Institute
Wen-Long Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ai Zeng: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chun-Zhao Zhao: Purdue University
Tong Si: Purdue University
Jiamu Du: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Wen-Wu Wu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Fu-Xing Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
H. Eric Xu: Van Andel Research Institute
Jian-Kang Zhu: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Drought stress is a major threat to crop production, but effective methods to mitigate the adverse effects of drought are not available. Here, we report that adding fluorine atoms in the benzyl ring of the abscisic acid (ABA) receptor agonist AM1 optimizes its binding to ABA receptors by increasing the number of hydrogen bonds between the compound and the surrounding amino acid residues in the receptor ligand-binding pocket. The new chemicals, known as AMFs, have long-lasting effects in promoting stomatal closure and inducing the expression of stress-responsive genes. Application of AMFs or transgenic overexpression of the receptor PYL2 in Arabidopsis and soybean plants confers increased drought resistance. The greatest increase in drought resistance is achieved when AMFs are applied to the PYL2-overexpression transgenic plants. Our results demonstrate that the combining of potent chemicals with transgenic overexpression of an ABA receptor is very effective in helping plants combat drought stress.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01239-3

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