drought-resistance
Drought resistance refers to the suite of physiological and molecular mechanisms that allow plants to survive and maintain productivity under water-limited conditions, including desiccation tolerance, osmotic adjustment, and repair of damaged water-conducting tissues. Understanding these mechanisms is central to plant biology, as water availability is one of the most critical factors governing plant growth and survival across ecosystems. Research in this field drives efforts to develop crop varieties capable of withstanding increasingly frequent and severe drought events, with broad implications for global food security.
open_in_new WikipediaPubMed · 2026-04-01
Scientists discovered a rice gene called OsFT that helps the plant balance energy production and growth, leading to more tillers (side shoots) and higher grain yields, while also making rice better at surviving drought.
The OsFT protein physically interacts with a photosynthetic repair protein (OsFtsH2) to stabilize the plant's light-harvesting machinery and improve photosynthetic efficiency.
OsFT regulates the carotenoid (pigment) production pathway, which in turn controls levels of two key plant hormones — abscisic acid (ABA) and strigolactone (SL) — that determine how many side shoots (tillers) rice forms.
Overexpressing the OsFT gene increased both drought tolerance and overall grain yield in rice plants.
