Null mutants of a tomato Rho of plants exhibit enhanced water use efficiency without a penalty to yield.

ABSTRACT: Improving water use efficiency in crops is a significant challenge as it involves balancing water transpiration and CO₂ uptake through stomatal pores. This study investigates the role of SlROP9, a tomato Rho of Plants protein, in guard cells and its impact on plant transpiration. The results reveal that SlROP9 null mutants exhibit reduced stomatal conductance while photosynthetic CO₂ assimilation remains largely unaffected. Notably, there is a notable decrease in whole-plant transpiration in the rop9 mutants compared to the wild type, especially during noon hours when the water pressure deficit is high. The elevated stomatal closure observed in rop9 mutants is linked to an increase in reactive oxygen species formation. This is very likely dependent on th

SUBMITTER: Puli MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10823239 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature