title: Expression of trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase in maize ears improves yield in well-watered and drought conditions.
abstract: Maize, the highest-yielding cereal crop worldwide, is particularly susceptible to drought during its 2- to 3-week flowering period. Many genetic engineering strategies for drought tolerance impinge on plant development, reduce maximum yield potential or do not translate from laboratory conditions to the field. We overexpressed a gene encoding a rice trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase (TPP) in developing maize ears using a floral promoter. This reduced the concentration of trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P), a sugar signal that regulates growth and development, and increased the concentration of sucrose in ear spikelets. Overexpression of TPP increased both kernel set and harvest index. Field data at several sites and over multiple seasons showed that the engineered trait improved yields from 9% to 49% under non-drought or mild drought conditions, and from 31% to 123% under more severe drought conditions, relative to yields from nontransgenic controls.
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Nuccio
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mowers
authors.forename: Hua-Ping
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Moez
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meghji
authors.forename: Lucia F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Primavesi
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Emdadul
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Haque
authors.forename: Shib Sankar
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Basu
authors.forename: L Mark
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Lagrimini
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological / Q000235:genetics; D001709:Biotechnology; D055864:Droughts; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C023178:trehalose-phosphatase; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases