Combining chemical and genetic approaches to increase drought resistance in plants.

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 th

SUBMITTER: Cao MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5662759 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature