title: Up-regulation of a H+-pyrophosphatase (H+-PPase) as a strategy to engineer drought-resistant crop plants.
abstract: Engineering drought -resistant crop plants is a critically important objective. Overexpression of the vacuolar H(+)-pyrophosphatase (H(+)-PPase) AVP1 in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana results in enhanced performance under soil water deficits. Recent work demonstrates that AVP1 plays an important role in root development through the facilitation of auxin fluxes. With the objective of improving crop performance, we expressed AVP1 in a commercial cultivar of tomato. This approach resulted in (i) greater pyrophosphate-driven cation transport into root vacuolar fractions, (ii) increased root biomass, and (iii) enhanced recovery of plants from an episode of soil water deficit stress. More robust root systems allowed transgenic tomato plants to take up greater amounts of water during the imposed water deficit stress, resulting in a more favorable plant water status and less injury. This study documents a general strategy for improving drought resistance of crops.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Science, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Connecticut, 1390 Storrs Road, Storrs, CT 06269-4163, USA.
authors.forename: Sunghun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jisheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jon K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Pittman
authors.forename: Gerald A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Berkowitz
authors.forename: Haibing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Soledad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Undurraga
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Kendal D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Hirschi
authors.forename: Roberto A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Gaxiola
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D001692:Biological Transport; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D011756:Diphosphates / Q000737:chemistry; D004190:Disasters; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D006720:Homozygote; D043564:Inorganic Pyrophosphatase / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D017136:Ion Transport; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D013997:Time Factors; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D019076:Transgenes; D015854:Up-Regulation; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011756:Diphosphates; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014867:Water; D004247:DNA; D043564:Inorganic Pyrophosphatase