UCT researchers aim to design
drought-resistant crop plants
With Southern Africa facing severe drought and famine, scientists look ahead
towards designing crops that are more disease and drought-resistant.
Researchers from the University of Cape Town's (UCT's) Department of Botany
are aiming to design crop plants that are more disease and
drought-resistant.
Associate Professor Jill Farrant and her team are investigating the genes
involved in desiccation tolerance and immunity to disease.
The team are using "resurrection plants", a type unique to southern
Africa,
which can tolerate extreme water loss for up to two years. Once watered,
they "resurrect", turning green in a few days.
"Water has become a limiting factor in world agriculture," said
Prof.
Farrant. "Most crops are sensitive to even mild dehydration stress. There
are, however, a few genera of plants unique to southern Africa called
'resurrection plants', which can tolerate extreme water loss or desiccation.
Their unique ability to withstand severe water loss (greater than 90%) makes
them an ideal system to study."
Xerophyta viscose and Xerophyta humilis, representative of the
monocotyledonous resurrection plants, are being used to isolate genes that
are associated with desiccation stress tolerance.
The team have isolated a number of genes, using approaches such as
differential screening and microarray analysis of gene libraries, which are
unregulated during drying and/or rehydration of these plants. In
collaboration with Prof. Jennifer Thomson, these genes are being transferred
into model "crop" species (Digitaria Sanguinalis and Arabidopsis
thaliana)
and will ultimately be used to transform crops such as maize, sorghum, wheat
and rice for improved drought tolerance.
The project team includes Associate Professor Nicci Illing, Dr Katherine
Denby and Dr Sagadevan Mundree from the Department of Molecular and Cell
Biology.
by Shireen Sedres,
University of Cape Town
For more information contact Prof. Farrant at (021) 650-4496 or
farrant@science.uct.ac.za
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