A SAUR gene enhances maize drought resilience by promoting silk elongation.
Zhu C, Yang Z, Yang S, Zhou X, Liu B
Climate Adaptation
Corn silk is more fragile than it looks — a week of dry heat at the wrong moment shrivels it before pollen can land, and that's the moment that determines whether an ear fills out or fails entirely.
Corn plants produce long silky strands that catch pollen to make kernels, but drought causes these strands to shrivel up and stop growing before they can do their job. Researchers found a specific gene that keeps those strands growing even when water is short, acting like a built-in drought defense for the plant. By boosting this gene's activity, they were able to grow corn that pollinated more successfully during dry spells and produced more grain.
Key Findings
A gene from the SAUR family promotes silk elongation in maize, maintaining reproductive function under drought stress
Enhanced SAUR activity improved pollination success and grain yield when water availability was limited
The gene works by influencing cell expansion in silk tissue, keeping strands growing even as drought signals suppress growth elsewhere in the plant
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists identified a gene in maize called SAUR that helps corn survive drought by keeping the silk (the thread-like strands on a corn ear) growing longer during dry conditions, which improves pollination and grain production when water is scarce.
Abstract Preview
Drought poses a substantial threat to world food security
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Maize, also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. The leafy stalk of the plant gives rise to male inflorescences or tassels which produce pollen, and female inflorescences called ears. The ears yield grain, known as kernels or seeds. In modern ...