Wheat gene that speeds early growth boosts drought resilience
Crop Improvement
The wheat behind your morning bread starts life as a tiny shoot racing to break through soil before it dries out, and this gene appears to be a key switch controlling how well that race goes.
When a wheat seed sprouts, it sends up a protective sheath called a coleoptile to punch through the soil toward light. Scientists found that a gene called TaEXPB23 controls how fast and long that sheath grows, and wheat plants that ramp up this gene's activity in the first three days after sprouting end up taller, heavier-seeded, and more resilient when water runs short later in the season. This gives plant breeders a genetic marker they could use to pick out naturally drought-tougher wheat varieties.
Key Findings
Among eight bread wheat cultivars, coleoptile length was highest in Roshan, Baharan, Hirmand, Oroum and Darya, and lowest in Weebille264, Chamran and Arta
TaEXPB23 expression rose in nearly all genotypes up to 48 hours after germination, then declined by 72 hours, with 1000-kernel weight ranging 35.1-44.0g and plant height 87.8-110.7cm under non-stressed conditions
The correlation between gene expression and coleoptile growth flipped from negative at 6 hours to positive at 72 hours, and higher expression linked to better seedling establishment and greater yield under drought stress
chevron_right Technical Summary
A gene called TaEXPB23 helps wheat seedlings push their first shoot up through soil faster, and wheat varieties with stronger activation of this gene grew taller, produced heavier grain, and handled drought better, a trait breeders could use to develop tougher wheat.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Association of TaEXPB23 gene expression with coleoptile growth, seed size and plant height in water-stressed wheat
IntroductionChanges in the size and growth rate of plant cells and tissues, driven by alterations in the expression of growth-related genes, represent one of the primary adaptive responses of plant...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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