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PMID: 25754246 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Increasing water-use efficiency directly through genetic manipulation of stomatal density.

The New phytologist ·Vol. 207 ·No. 1 ·2015-07-00 ·Pages 188-195

Franks PJ, W Doheny-Adams T, Britton-Harper ZJ, Gray JE

Abstract

Improvement in crop water-use efficiency (WUE) is a critical priority for regions facing increased drought or diminished groundwater resources. Despite new tools for the manipulation of stomatal development, the engineering of plants with high WUE remains a challenge. We used Arabidopsis epidermal patterning factor (EPF) mutants exhibiting altered stomatal density to test whether WUE could be improved directly by manipulation of the genes controlling stomatal density. Specifically, we tested whether constitutive overexpression of EPF2 reduced stomatal density and maximum stomatal conductance (gw(max) ) sufficiently to increase WUE. We found that a reduction in gw(max) via reduced stomatal density in EPF2-overexpressing plants (EPF2OE) increased both instantaneous and long-term WUE without altering significantly the photosynthetic capacity. Conversely, plants lacking both EPF1 and EPF2 expression (epf1epf2) exhibited higher stomatal density, higher gw(max) and lower instantaneous WUE, as well as lower (but not significantly so) long-term WUE. Targeted genetic modification of stomatal conductance, such as in EPF2OE, is a viable approach for the engineering of higher WUE in crops, particularly in future high-carbon-dioxide (CO2 ) atmospheres.

Keywords
Arabidopsis carbon dioxide (CO2) crops epidermal patterning factor (EPF) genetically modified water-use efficiency (WUE) stomata δ13C
MeSH Terms
Arabidopsis/genetics,physiology Arabidopsis Proteins/metabolism DNA-Binding Proteins/metabolism Organ Size Photosynthesis Plant Stomata/anatomy & histology,physiology Transcription Factors/metabolism Water/physiology
Chemicals
Arabidopsis Proteins DNA-Binding Proteins EPF2 protein, Arabidopsis Transcription Factors Water
Authors & Affiliations
4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Franks Peter J
Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
W Doheny-Adams Timothy
Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.
Britton-Harper Zoe J
Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
Gray Julie E
Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.
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Article Info
Journal
The New phytologist
Abbr.
New Phytol
ISSN
1469-8137
DOI
10.1111/nph.13347
Published
2015-07-00
Epub
2015-00-09
Pages
188-195
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
9882884
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1111/nph.13347 View journal details
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