Funding secured to combat drought tolerance

Led by Dr Matt Jones, School of Biological Sciences, part of the research will focus on dehydration stress using a series of controlled chambers to create environments with varying levels of drought-like conditions to see the effect on the crops.

”Plants respond to stress differently throughout the day and if we are to fully exploit the potential yield of crops it is vital that we understand how plants interact with their environment, especially during stresses such as drought which limit yield,” says Dr Jones.

Stresses

Plants have to cope with a range of different stresses in the environment, from bright light and varied temperature to disease and insects, which are linked with certain times of the day. These regular patterns have driven the evolution of biological timing mechanisms that enable plants to anticipate stress at particular times.

The research project, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, is hoping to get a better understanding of the link between the metabolic changes in plants due to different stresses, and the corresponding knock-on impact on its biological timer, known as the circadian system.

Studies will begin on the model plant, thale cress, before moving into barley and other cereals.

“If we are to understand how crops respond to dehydration we need to see how those changes affect plants’ biological timers,” said Dr Jones. “We can then work out how to change the genetic makeup of the plant to make it more drought-tolerant while not reducing yield.”

The research team is also looking at light stress and will focus on gaining a better understanding of the link between light signalling and dehydration stress.