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| Open AccessA double-stranded RNA binding protein enhances drought resistance via protein phase separation in rice
Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting rice growth and development. Here, the authors identify a dsRNA-binding protein positively regulates rice drought resistance through promoting stability of OsNCED4 mRNAs, transcript of a key gene for the biosynthesis of abscisic acid, via protein phase separation.
- Huaijun Wang
- , Tiantian Ye
- & Lizhong Xiong
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Article
| Open AccessNatural variation in BnaA9.NF-YA7 contributes to drought tolerance in Brassica napus L
Rapeseed production is often threatened by drought stress. Here, the authors report transcription factor BnaA9.NFYA7 negatively regulates rapeseed drought tolerance through ABA signal transduction pathway via feedback inhibition of the expression of BnaABF3/4s-related genes.
- Jia Wang
- , Lin Mao
- & Liezhao Liu
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Article
| Open AccessIncreasing atmospheric dryness reduces boreal forest tree growth
How trees respond to increasing atmospheric dryness has important implications for forest growth. Here, the authors use a network of tree-ring records to quantify the multidecadal impact of vapour pressure deficit trends on boreal forests in Canada.
- Ariane Mirabel
- , Martin P. Girardin
- & Peter B. Reich
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Article
| Open AccessPhosphate starvation response precedes abscisic acid response under progressive mild drought in plants
Even mild drought impacts crop production significantly. Here, the authors develop an experimental mild drought system induced by ridges in the field and find that phosphate starvation response occurs before ABA response in early mild drought.
- Yukari Nagatoshi
- , Kenta Ikazaki
- & Yasunari Fujita
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Article
| Open AccessAllelic variation of TaWD40-4B.1 contributes to drought tolerance by modulating catalase activity in wheat
Drought stress limits wheat production around the world. Here, the authors report allelic variation of a WD40 encoding gene TaWD40-4B.1 contributes to wheat drought tolerance by interacting with canonical catalases as a chaperone to promote their activities to avoid ROS over accumulation.
- Geng Tian
- , Shubin Wang
- & Mengcheng Wang
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Article
| Open AccessNatural variation of DROT1 confers drought adaptation in upland rice
Genetic basis of the drought tolerance of upland rice is unclear. Here, the authors report the cloning of a COBRA-like protein encoding gene DROT1 and reveal that it is repressed by ERF3 and activated by ERF71 to help control the balance between growth and drought tolerance in upland rice.
- Xingming Sun
- , Haiyan Xiong
- & Zichao Li
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Article
| Open AccessGenome-resolved metagenomics reveals role of iron metabolism in drought-induced rhizosphere microbiome dynamics
Advances in omics provide a tool to understand mechanisms for plant–microbial interactions under stress. Here the authors apply genome-resolved metagenomics to investigate sorghum and its microbiome responses to drought, identifying an unexpected role of iron metabolism.
- Ling Xu
- , Zhaobin Dong
- & Devin Coleman-Derr
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Article
| Open AccessThe E3 ligase MREL57 modulates microtubule stability and stomatal closure in response to ABA
During stomatal opening and closing, the guard cell microtubule cytoskeleton is reorganised. Here the authors show that the E3 ubiquitin ligase MREL57 targets the microtubule stabilizing protein WDL7 to promote microtubule disassembly during ABA-induced stomatal closure.
- Liru Dou
- , Kaikai He
- & Tonglin Mao
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Review Article
| Open AccessRole of Raf-like kinases in SnRK2 activation and osmotic stress response in plants
A better understanding of how plants respond to osmotic stress could potentially help improve crop yields. Here Fàbregas et al. review the recent characterization of Raf-like kinases that act in both in ABA-dependent and -independent responses to osmotic stress.
- Norma Fàbregas
- , Takuya Yoshida
- & Alisdair R. Fernie
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Article
| Open AccessAuxin-sensitive Aux/IAA proteins mediate drought tolerance in Arabidopsis by regulating glucosinolate levels
Brassicaceae produce glucosinolates to protect against herbivory and pathogens. Here the authors show that auxin-sensitive Aux/IAA repressor proteins regulate aliphatic glucosinolate levels in Arabidopsis and this promotes stomatal closure via reactive oxygen species during drought stress.
- Mohammad Salehin
- , Baohua Li
- & Mark Estelle
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Article
| Open AccessMYB96 recruits the HDA15 protein to suppress negative regulators of ABA signaling in Arabidopsis
MYB96 can regulate both positive and negative regulators of ABA signaling to maximize plant drought tolerance. Here, the authors show that MYB96 represses expression of ABA negative regulators in Arabidopsis by interacting with HDA15 and promoting histone deacetylation at the cognate regions.
- Hong Gil Lee
- & Pil Joon Seo
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Article
| Open AccessNorthern forest tree populations are physiologically maladapted to drought
Northern tree populations may not benefit under climate change, with implications for assisted migration and range expansion. Here, Isaac-Renton et al. show that leading-edge lodgepole pine populations have fewer characteristics of drought-tolerance, so may not adapt to tolerate drier conditions.
- Miriam Isaac-Renton
- , David Montwé
- & Kerstin Treydte
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Article
| Open AccessThe genomic landscape of molecular responses to natural drought stress in Panicum hallii
Drought is a major factor limiting crop productivity. Here, via eQTL analysis and comparative genomics, the authors show compensatory evolution between trans-regulatory loci and transcription factor binding sites that shape the drought response networks in the model C4 grass Panicum hallii.
- John T. Lovell
- , Jerry Jenkins
- & Thomas E. Juenger
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Article
| Open AccessOverexpression of the vascular brassinosteroid receptor BRL3 confers drought resistance without penalizing plant growth
Drought resistant plants typically have reduced growth. Here the authors show that overexpression of the BRL3 brassinosteroid receptor confers drought tolerance and accumulation of osmoprotectant metabolites without penalizing growth, demonstrating that drought response and growth can be uncoupled.
- Norma Fàbregas
- , Fidel Lozano-Elena
- & Ana I. Caño-Delgado
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Article
| Open AccessExtreme haplotype variation in the desiccation-tolerant clubmoss Selaginella lepidophylla
Selaginella lepidophylla is a clubmoss with extreme desiccation tolerance. Here, the authors assemble its highly heterozygotic haplotypes and examine gene expression changes during desiccation, which shed light on the mechanisms for maintaining a small genome size and adaptation to extreme drying.
- Robert VanBuren
- , Ching Man Wai
- & Todd P. Michael
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Article
| Open AccessRD26 mediates crosstalk between drought and brassinosteroid signalling pathways
Brassinosteroid (BR) signalling regulates plant development via the BES1/BZR1 family of transcription factors. Here the authors show that BES1 activity can be modified by the drought-responsive RD26 transcription factor providing a molecular basis for the interaction between drought and BR signalling.
- Huaxun Ye
- , Sanzhen Liu
- & Yanhai Yin
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Article
| Open AccessA transposable element in a NAC gene is associated with drought tolerance in maize seedlings
Drought is a major cause of yield loss in maize and understanding the genetic determinants of natural variation in drought tolerance may aid breeding programs produce more tolerant varieties. Here, Mao et al.identify a MITE transposon insertion in a NAC transcription factor, which is associated with natural variation in drought tolerance.
- Hude Mao
- , Hongwei Wang
- & Feng Qin
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Article
| Open AccessCircadian rhythms of hydraulic conductance and growth are enhanced by drought and improve plant performance
Circadian rhythms allow plants to respond to diurnal fluctuations in the environment. Here Caldeira et al. find that circadian control of hydraulic conductance, aquaporin expression and leaf growth are entrained by oscillations of plant water status and promote water uptake in drought-stressed plants.
- Cecilio F. Caldeira
- , Linda Jeanguenin
- & François Tardieu
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Article
| Open AccessMiddle-Eastern plant communities tolerate 9 years of drought in a multi-site climate manipulation experiment
Semi-arid and Mediterranean ecosystems are predicted to be vulnerable to climate change. Here, Tielbörger et al. show that plants along a steep climatic gradient in a biodiversity hotspot are resistant to both irrigation and drought in multiple years of experimental rainfall manipulation.
- Katja Tielbörger
- , Mark C. Bilton
- & Marcelo Sternberg
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Article
| Open AccessAllelic variation at a single gene increases food value in a drought-tolerant staple cereal
Sorghum is a drought-adapted cereal, but the grains have lower digestibility than other cereal crops. This work shows that a low-frequency allele type in the starch metabolic gene pullulanase is associated with increased digestibility, which may help improve sorghum yield and therefore food security.
- Edward K. Gilding
- , Celine H. Frère
- & Ian D. Godwin
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Article |
Multiple exposures to drought 'train' transcriptional responses in Arabidopsis
Whether plants can remember their transcriptional response to stress is unknown. By repeatedly exposingArabidopsisto drought, we show that the plants remember their transcriptional response to stress and that the altered genes retain the epigenetic mark H3K4me3 and stalled phosphorylated polymerase II.
- Yong Ding
- , Michael Fromm
- & Zoya Avramova