Research seeks to boost drought resilience in wheat Researchers at the University of California, Davis, are partnering with an international team of scientists to de- velop wheat varieties that can withstand drought and low-water conditions.
According to a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the ef- fort shows promise. Root depth and biomass distribution in the soil profile are critical traits for ad- aptation to water stress and have been prioritized for improving drought resil- ience in wheat. However, the gene networks that reg- ulate these traits in wheat remain large- ly unknown, so this has prompted new efforts to understand and modify wheat root architecture to optimize water ac- quisition in wheat. New genetic research has led to wheat plants with longer root growth, which enables them to pull water from deeper supplies. The plants that resulted from genetic trials have more biomass and produce higher-grain yields, the study authors noted. Gilad Gabay, a postdoctoral research- er in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences and one of the authors of the paper, said wheat studies are leading to new ways to modify root structures to withstand low-water conditions. “Roots play a very important role in plants,” Gabay said in a statement. “The root absorbs the water and the nutrients to support plants’ growth. This finding is
Through genetic research, scientists, including those at the University of California, Davis, are developing longer root growth in wheat, which can increase the plant’s tolerance to drought.
a useful tool to engineer root systems to improve yield under drought conditions in wheat.” Researchers say little was known pre- viously about the genes that affect the root structure of wheat. However, dis- covery of a gene family known as OPRIII has provided understanding of how dif- ferent copies of these genes affect root length, said UC Davis professor Jorge Dubcovsky, project leader in the lab where Gabay works. “The duplication of the OPRIII genes results in increased production of a
plant hormone called Jasmonic acid that causes, among other processes, the accelerated production of lateral roots,” Dubcovsky said in a statement. “Different dosages of these genes can be used to ob- tain different roots.” To get longer roots, the team of re- searchers used CRISPR gene editing tech- nology to eliminate some of the OPRIII genes that were duplicated in wheat lines with shorter roots. By contrast, research- ers said, increasing the copies of these genes caused shorter and more branched roots. But inserting a rye chromosome,
which results in decreased OPRIII wheat genes, produced longer roots. “Fine-tuning the dosage of the OPRIII genes can allow us to engineer root sys- tems that are adapted to drought, to nor- mal conditions, to different scenarios,” Gabay said. Researchers say discovering the right combination of genes means they can search for wheat varieties that have those natural variations. That will enable them to breed for release to growers planting in low-water environments.
CIMIS REPORT | www.cimis.water.ca.gov
CALIFORNIA IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM
For the week February 23 - March 1, 2023 ETO (INCHES/WEEK)
YEAR
3.0
THIS YEAR
2.5
LAST YEAR AVERAGE YEAR
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
Lorem ipsum
0.0
MACDOEL II (236)
BIGGS (244)
DAVIS (06)
MANTECA (70)
FRESNO (80)
SALINAS-SOUTH (214)
FIVE POINTS (2)
SHAFTER (5)
TEMECULA (62)
IMPERIAL (87)
THIS YEAR LAST YEAR AVG. YEAR % FROM AVG.
.36 .58 .54 -31
.33 .62 .63 -49
.41 .90 .66 -38
.50 .88 .65 -23
.29 .78 .58 -53
.36 .78 .60 -42
.36 .80 .59 -40
.43 .95 .72 -40
.71 1.00 .71 0
.96 1.11 .97 -2
W eekly reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is the rate of water use (evapotranspiration—the sum of soil evaporation and crop transpiration) for healthy pasture grass. Multiplying ETo by the appropriate “crop coefficient” gives estimates of the ET for other crops. For example, assume ETo on June 15 is 0.267 inches and the crop coefficient for corn on that day is 1.1. Multiplying ETo by the coefficient (0.26 inches x 1.1) results in a corn ET of 0.29 inches. This
information is useful in determining the amount and timing of irriga- tion water. Contact Richard Snyder, UC Davis, for information on coefficients, 530-752-4628. The 10 graphs provide weekly ETo rates for selected areas for average year, last year and this year. The ETo information is provided by the California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS) of the California Department of Water Resources.
For information contact the DWR district office or DWR state headquarters:
SACRAMENTO HEADQUARTERS: 916-651-9679 • 916-651-7218
NORTHERN REGION: Red Bluff 530-529-7301
NORTH CENTRAL REGION: West Sacramento 916-376-9630
SOUTH CENTRAL REGION:
SOUTHERN REGION:
Fresno 559-230-3334
Glendale 818-500-1645 x247 or x243
14 Ag Alert March 8, 2023
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