Enhancing
[www.isaaa.org] drought
tolerance without grain yield penalty has been a challenge for plant
breeders and crop improvement. A team of researchers from the International
Center for Tropical Agriculture in Colombia, and various universities and
research institutions in Japan evaluated the Arabidopsis thaliana galactinol
synthase 2
[www.isaaa.org] gene
(AtGolS2). The team overexpressed the gene in
[www.isaaa.org] rice
(Oryza sativa) to confer drought tolerance and increase grain yield under
dry conditions.

The developed transgenic lines had higher levels of galactinol than
non-transgenic plants. The transgenics also had increased grain yield under
drought conditions, which is related to the higher number of panicles, grain
fertility, and biomass. Extensive confined field trials of the transgenic
lines across two seasons revealed that the lines have the proven field
drought tolerance. The drought tolerance was found to be associated with a
higher relative water content of leaves, higher photosynthesis activity,
lesser reduction in plant growth and faster recovering ability.

These provide strong evidence that AtGolS2 is can be a useful tool to reduce
grain yield losses in rice under field drought stress.

[onlinelibrary.wiley.com]



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