Due to the fact that due to global warming, the Earth's climate is becoming drier and hotter, agriculture is going through hard days. Scientists have succeeded in developing an effective methodology for the genetic modification of food crops, which will help farmers to increase yields in the future.
Planet Earth is gradually warming up. In addition, the population in its territory is growing steadily. In the face of global warming, farmers face two big challenges. Firstly, crops must withstand drier, hotter climates, and secondly, people need more and more natural products. Circumstances like these require really serious decisions.
Researchers announced this week that they have found a way to increase crop productivity at a genetic level, allowing the plant to use solar energy much more efficiently. Scientists hope this will help farmers meet the needs of an ever-growing population. “Our goal is to support agriculture around the world,” says Krishla Nyogi, one of the researchers involved in the project.
To increase yields, scientists first had to overcome the natural defense mechanisms of plants. When a plant receives more light than is necessary for successful photosynthesis, its cells initiate the process of non-photochemical chlorophyll fluorescence quenching (NPQ), which allows them to release excess energy in the form of heat to avoid overheating. When the sun leaves the sky and the plants are in the shade again, NPQ slows down, but it takes time, during which photosynthesis is also very slow. The mechanism that plants have acquired over the course of evolution helps them effectively cope with the harsh climates in the wild, but modern agriculture bears little resemblance to the wild jungle or savannah. For him, non-photochemical extinguishing is rather a disadvantage that reduces the yield indicators,after all, the more energy, the more sugars and useful microelements in the fruits of plants, and therefore the higher their energy value and taste. Therefore, the scientists decided to change the NPQ and allow the plants to absorb more photons.
The mechanism of natural plant protection from excess solar energy
When UV radiation becomes too intense, plant cells begin to release excess energy in the form of heat, thus avoiding overheating. The problem is that while the defense system is in place, photosynthesis is very slow.
As a result, a team of researchers from several institutes found a way to tweak the genes associated with NPQ in common tobacco plants (Latin Nicotiana tabacum) so that they slow down the quenching process much faster during the period when the plant is in the shade. These changes led to an increase in the production of 3 proteins, which accelerate the recovery of photosynthesis after quenching. Thanks to this, the efficiency of photosynthesis was increased by 15%.
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Does this mean that now we will get 15% more tobacco harvest? No. According to Nyoggia, the choice fell on tobacco only because it is easy to cultivate in the laboratory and is grown as actively as food crops. The current experiment is essentially just proof that the scientists' technique works. Because the team deals with genes and proteins that are found in all plants, the genetic enhancement technique can be applied to other crops as well. So, if tested on them successfully, in the future, the new method could be used around the world, which will significantly increase yields and help plants cope with heat and drought.