Tandemly duplicated TaERF109 genes confer drought tolerance and post-drought recovery in wheat.
Chen J, Zhao S, Li W, Wang C, Gao Y
Climate Adaptation
Wheat fields already face more frequent dry summers — this gene discovery opens a path to varieties that wilt less, recover faster, and still yield well when the rains finally come.
Wheat has a set of ten nearly identical genes that act like a drought emergency response team. When researchers turned up the activity of one of these genes, the plants handled dry conditions better and recovered more quickly once water returned. The genes work partly by increasing a natural plant hormone that promotes growth and by making more of a protective molecule that helps roots avoid damage from too much iron in the soil.
Key Findings
Ten tandemly duplicated TaERF109 genes were identified in wheat, with seven rapidly switching on under drought conditions.
Wheat plants engineered to overexpress TaERF109A2 showed enhanced drought resilience, while plants with all nine related genes knocked out using CRISPR suffered significantly worse growth inhibition under drought.
TaERF109A2 promotes drought recovery through two pathways: boosting cytokinin hormone biosynthesis and increasing nicotianamine accumulation, which also confers tolerance to iron toxicity.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists discovered that wheat carries ten nearly identical copies of a drought-response gene called TaERF109, and activating these genes helps wheat survive dry spells and bounce back faster afterward. The genes work by boosting protective plant hormones and a compound that also shields roots from iron toxicity.
Abstract Preview
To adapt to environmental challenges, plants have evolved extensive gene families through duplication events, generating multiple-copy genes that mediate stress responses. However, the function of ...
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