| Arable
Plant molecule crucial to
improving stress tolerance in cereal crops
Jason Able
Tiny molecules found in plants are being targeted to breed cereals with the potential to deliver high crop yields under
stressful growing conditions such as drought and heat.
esearchers from
the University of
Adelaide found
small generegulating RNA
molecules already
present in plants could be used to
understand why certain strains of
cereals fared better in adverse
R
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conditions.
Associate Professor Jason Able
said by exploiting these RNA
pathways, breeders around the
globe would be able to more
precisely engineer crops and
develop varieties better equipped
to handle adverse conditions.
“What we’re identifying is that
particular small RNA molecule
controls or could control simple,
important targets through the life
cycle of a plant,” he said.
“Through understanding the
functional role of these molecules
we may wish to regulate, we may
overcome particular environmental
challenges.
“We can now take that
information forward and use those
selection lines in making new
potential varieties.”
Potential areas for development
include the reproductive timing in
plants, or alteration of root
structures, in order to make crops
less susceptible to environmental
stress.
“You could manipulate or
understand what molecules
control flowering time traits and
then bring forward the maturity of
that plant for example, so that it
avoids heat stress,” Associate
Professor Able said.
Associate Professor Able is
Head of Agricultural Science within
the University of Adelaide’s School
of Agriculture, Food and Wine and
is senior author of the paper on
SMARTER cereal breeding: Small
RNA-Mediated Adaptation of
Reproductive Targets in Epigenetic
Regulation, which is published in
the journal Trends in Plant Science
this week.
He said using the same
research, grain yields and quality
could also be improved by altering
the developmental stages of cereal
crops.
While current study has looked
at plant development suited to
Australian growing conditions,
Professor Able said the same
research would also be useful in
other climates.
“It could be applied worldwide,
and there’ll be people around the
world who will be working towards
what we’re working towards.”
“Continual improvement
through plant breeding underpins
food security globally.
“With the world’s population set
to reach more than nine billion by
2050, we need to intensify our
efforts in breeding new cereals
and other food plants with
improvements in yield, quality and
disease resistance.”
According to the United Nations
Food and Agricultural Association,
cereal crops make up more than
50 per cent of all food based
energy, with more than 1091
million tonnes produced for food
usage over the past year.
Drought stress impacts wheat
yield in particular, with
approximately 32 per cent of all
wheat crops in developing
countries experiencing drought
stress during the gro wing season.
Because the RNA molecules
identified by research are already
present in all organisms, the
findings can be applied without the
need for genetic modification.
“These molecules are already
out in the field as we speak, it’s
just that we haven’t really been
able to put a handle on them
previously,” Associate Professor
Able said.
“So it’s just a matter of the
breeders getting hold of that
information and starting to make
those strategic breeding crops to
develop that variety.”
South Australia’s capital
Adelaide has three long-standing
public universities, Flinders
University, University of South
Australia, and the University of
Adelaide, each of which are
consistently rated highly in the
international higher education
rankings.
September 2016 | Farming Monthly | 13