Jamrock
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http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jul/01/cutler-quinabactin-water/
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RIVERSIDE Plants use less water when given an inexpensive chemical discovered by a UC Riverside researcher, according to a new study. Products developed from this research could help farmers cope with an increasingly strained water supply, in California and worldwide.
Called quinabactin, the chemical was discovered by UCR plant biologist Sean Cutler. It mimics the functions of a plant hormone called abscisic acid that makes plants conserve water.
The study was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Cutler was the studys senior author; Masanori Okamotoa, also of UCR, was first author. The study is available at this link.
Water was withheld from the soybean plants shown here for 14 days during which the plants were treated with either a control (left) or quinabactin (right). The treated plants do not wilt as rapidly due to the action of the new compound. Cutler Lab, UC Riverside
The treatment closes microscopic holes in leaves called stomata, through which plants take in carbon dioxide and give off water vapor. Soybean seedlings two weeks old sprayed with quinabactin then left unwatered for eight days remained in good health. Control plants wilted.
UCR is now in talks with Syngenta Biotechnology about commercializing the discovery.
Quinabactin is a research molecule that requires further work, Cutler said. It could be made into a spray to be applied when water runs short. Alternatively, the technology could be used to make plants drought-resistant, either through traditional breeding or genetic modification.
Joseph R. Ecker, a Salk Institute scientist familiar with Cutlers research, said it holds much promise.
During a period of drought, you could spray the plants before they lose a lot of water, said Ecker, an editor of PNAS. You could potentially increase drought resistance. Its exciting science work.
Maarten Chrispeels, a UCSD plant biologist, said the work needs much development before it could be applied.
The potential application would be to see plants through relative short period of drought, not the kind of long-term drought we have been experiencing in the country the last few years, Chrispeels said.
Sean Cutler is an associate professor of plant cell biology at University of California - Riverside. L. Duka.
Abscisic acid slows down plant growth; since crops are bred to grow fast, this trait has been selected against. Being able to turn on this trait as needed could save crops that would otherwise be totally lost, Cutler said.
This paper establishes that we can do it, Cutler said. Thats very valuable information, because we didnt know if we could do it before.
A chemical like quinabactin could also be used on grapes, Cutler said.
Abscisic acid also improves the color of grapes, and is now sold for that purpose. But abscisic acid is too expensive for more general use, Cutler said.
"If you treat grape plants with this hormone during their development, the grapes will be a much more uniform red color, and that has substantial value," Cutler said. "In that special case, the high cost of the molecule is justified by simple economics."
Abscisic acid slows down plant growth; since crops are bred to grow fast, this trait has been selected against. Being able to turn on this trait as needed could save crops that would otherwise be totally lost, Cutler said.
Abscisic acid is so named because it promotes abscission of fruits and leaves.
It induces several other changes in plants, such as inhibiting growth and causing stomata to close, reducing water lost by inhibiting transpiration.
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✉
0
COMMENTS
RIVERSIDE Plants use less water when given an inexpensive chemical discovered by a UC Riverside researcher, according to a new study. Products developed from this research could help farmers cope with an increasingly strained water supply, in California and worldwide.
Called quinabactin, the chemical was discovered by UCR plant biologist Sean Cutler. It mimics the functions of a plant hormone called abscisic acid that makes plants conserve water.
The study was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Cutler was the studys senior author; Masanori Okamotoa, also of UCR, was first author. The study is available at this link.
Water was withheld from the soybean plants shown here for 14 days during which the plants were treated with either a control (left) or quinabactin (right). The treated plants do not wilt as rapidly due to the action of the new compound. Cutler Lab, UC Riverside
The treatment closes microscopic holes in leaves called stomata, through which plants take in carbon dioxide and give off water vapor. Soybean seedlings two weeks old sprayed with quinabactin then left unwatered for eight days remained in good health. Control plants wilted.
UCR is now in talks with Syngenta Biotechnology about commercializing the discovery.
Quinabactin is a research molecule that requires further work, Cutler said. It could be made into a spray to be applied when water runs short. Alternatively, the technology could be used to make plants drought-resistant, either through traditional breeding or genetic modification.
Joseph R. Ecker, a Salk Institute scientist familiar with Cutlers research, said it holds much promise.
During a period of drought, you could spray the plants before they lose a lot of water, said Ecker, an editor of PNAS. You could potentially increase drought resistance. Its exciting science work.
Maarten Chrispeels, a UCSD plant biologist, said the work needs much development before it could be applied.
The potential application would be to see plants through relative short period of drought, not the kind of long-term drought we have been experiencing in the country the last few years, Chrispeels said.
Sean Cutler is an associate professor of plant cell biology at University of California - Riverside. L. Duka.
Abscisic acid slows down plant growth; since crops are bred to grow fast, this trait has been selected against. Being able to turn on this trait as needed could save crops that would otherwise be totally lost, Cutler said.
This paper establishes that we can do it, Cutler said. Thats very valuable information, because we didnt know if we could do it before.
A chemical like quinabactin could also be used on grapes, Cutler said.
Abscisic acid also improves the color of grapes, and is now sold for that purpose. But abscisic acid is too expensive for more general use, Cutler said.
"If you treat grape plants with this hormone during their development, the grapes will be a much more uniform red color, and that has substantial value," Cutler said. "In that special case, the high cost of the molecule is justified by simple economics."
Abscisic acid slows down plant growth; since crops are bred to grow fast, this trait has been selected against. Being able to turn on this trait as needed could save crops that would otherwise be totally lost, Cutler said.
Abscisic acid is so named because it promotes abscission of fruits and leaves.
It induces several other changes in plants, such as inhibiting growth and causing stomata to close, reducing water lost by inhibiting transpiration.
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1
2
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