Drought stress alters floral volatiles and reduces floral rewards, pollinator activity, and seed set in a global plant

Drought stress is a major constraint in global maize production, causing almost 30–90% of the yield loss depending upon growth stage and the degree and duration of the stress. Here, we report that ectopic expression of Arabidopsis glutaredoxin S17 (AtGRXS17) in field grown maize conferred tolerance to drought stress during the reproductive stage, which is the most drought sensitive stage for seed set and, consequently, grain yield. AtGRXS17-expressing maize lines displayed higher seed set in the field, resulting in 2-fold and 1.5-fold increase in yield in comparison to the non-transgenic plants when challenged with drought stress at the tasseling and silking/pollination stages, respectively. AtGRXS17-expressing lines showed higher relative water content, higher chlorophyll content, and less hydrogen peroxide accumulation than wild-type (WT) control plants under drought conditions. AtGRXS17-expressing lines also exhibited at least 2-fold more pollen germination than WT plants under drought stress. Compared to the transgenic maize, WT controls accumulated higher amount of proline, indicating that WT plants were more stressed over the same period. The results present a robust and simple strategy for meeting rising yield demands in maize under water limiting conditions.

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Drought Stress Effect on Crop Pollination, Seed Set, Yield and Quality

Alternative Farming Systems, Biotechnology, Drought Stress and Ecological Fertilisation ◽

10.1007/978-94-007-0186-1_6 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 193-213 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Ahmad M. Alqudah ◽

Nezar H. Samarah ◽

Russell E. Mullen

Keyword(s):

Drought Stress ◽

Seed Set ◽

Stress Effect ◽

Crop Pollination ◽

Yield And Quality

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Mild preflowering drought priming improves stress defences, assimilation and sink strength in rice under severe terminal drought

Functional Plant Biology ◽

10.1071/fp17248 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 45 (8) ◽

pp. 827 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

R. N. Bahuguna ◽

A. Tamilselvan ◽

R. Muthurajan ◽

C. A. Solis ◽

S. V. K. Jagadish

Keyword(s):

Drought Stress ◽

Oxidative Damage ◽

Enzymatic Activity ◽

Seed Set ◽

Grain Filling ◽

Sink Strength ◽

Terminal Drought ◽

Terminal Drought Stress ◽

Grain Filling Stage ◽

Mild Drought

Drought stress is a prominent and persisting constraint for sustaining global rice (Oryza sativa L.) production. Priming with mild drought can be effective in reducing the impact of severe terminal drought stress affecting seed set and grain filling in rice. The cultivars N22 (drought tolerant), NSIC Rc222 and IR64 (high yielding, drought sensitive) were tested for short-term mild drought priming before flowering and subsequently exposed to severe drought stress either at the highly sensitive flowering or at the early grain filling stage under greenhouse conditions. Drought stress increased oxidative damage and reduced photosynthesis and sink enzymatic activity, ultimately reducing seed set (20–46%) and grain yield (22–68%) across cultivars. However, priming with mild drought significantly reduced oxidative damage, and increased photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and enzymatic activity, contributing to improved sink strength, thereby significantly reducing seed set (7–18%) and grain yield (12–59%) losses. The higher activity of key enzymes associated with sink strength such as cell wall invertase and sucrose synthase in primed plants probably reduced drought-induced losses at the grain filling stage. The findings support mild drought priming before flowering as a promising strategy for reducing yield penalty by providing partial protection against subsequent severe terminal drought stress. However, application of mild drought priming at the field level would need further investigation.

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Flavonoid profiling by LC-MS IN 14 – 3-3ν knockout mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana during drought stress conditions

Planta Medica ◽

10.1055/s-0034-1382678 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 80 (10) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

F Nabbie ◽

O Shperdheja ◽

J Millot ◽

J Lindberg ◽

B Peethambaran

Keyword(s):

Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽

Drought Stress ◽

Stress Conditions ◽

Knockout Mutants

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Mitigation Effects of 24-Epibrassinolide and Thiourea in Field Pea (Pisum sativum L.) under Drought Stress

THE JOURNAL OF PLANT SCIENCE RESEARCH ◽

10.32381/jpsr.2018.34.02.11 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 34 (2) ◽

pp. 229-235 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Prachi Garg ◽

◽

A. Hemantaranjan ◽

Jyostnarani Pradhan ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drought Stress ◽

Pisum Sativum ◽

Field Pea ◽

Pisum Sativum L

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Water balance, drought stress and yields for rainfed field crop rotations under present and future conditions in the Czech Republic

Climate Research ◽

10.3354/cr01339 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 65 ◽

pp. 175-192 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

P Hlavinka ◽

KC Kersebaum ◽

M Dubrovský ◽

M Fischer ◽

E Pohanková ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Czech Republic ◽

Drought Stress ◽

Water Balance ◽

Crop Rotations ◽

Field Crop ◽

The Czech Republic

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BEHAVIOUR AND EFFECTIVENESS OF BEES IN POLLINATING LEGUMES

Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association ◽

10.33584/jnzg.1974.36.1416 ◽

1974 ◽

pp. 105-110

Author(s):

I.W. Forster

Keyword(s):

White Clover ◽

Seed Set ◽

Red Clover ◽

Potential Maximum ◽

Open Fields

One honeybee or bumblebee working on each square metre of white clover or red clover gave adequate pollination. This could be obtained with one hive of honeybees to each three hectares of flowering clover. Lucerne seeding averaged only 10% of the potential maximum in open fields with honey- or bumblebees. In cages where honeybees were forced to gather pollen, this was raised to 30% but it was not possible to increase seed set significantly in the fields.

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EVALUATION OF CLOVERS ON SANDY COASTAL SOIL

Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association ◽

10.33584/jnzg.1977.39.1500 ◽

1977 ◽

pp. 130-138 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

W.M. Williams ◽

L.B. Anderson ◽

B.M. Cooper

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Drought Stress ◽

Sandy Soil ◽

White Clover ◽

Plant Material ◽

Red Clover ◽

Early Spring ◽

Commercial Cultivars ◽

Mediterranean Origin ◽

Winter Annual

In evaluations of clover performances on summer-dry Himatangi sandy soil, it was found that none could match lucerne over summer. Emphasis was therefore placed on production in autumn-winter- early spring when lucerne growth was slow. Evaluations of some winter annual clover species suggested that Trifolium spumosum, T. pallidum, T. resupinatum, and T. vesiculosum would justify further investigation, along with T. subterraneum which is already used in pastures on this soil type. Among the perennial clover species, Kenya white clover (7'. semipilosum) showed outstanding recovery from drought and was the only species to produce significantly in autumn. However, it failed to grow in winter-early spring. Within red clover, materials of New Zealand x Moroccan origin substantially outproduced the commercial cultivars. Within white clover, material from Israel, Italy and Lebanon, as well as progeny of a selected New Zealand plant, showed more rapid recovery from drought stress and subsequently better winter growth than New Zealand commercial material ('Grasslands Huia'). The wider use of plant material of Mediterranean origin and of plants collected in New Zealand dryland pastures is advocated in development of clover cultivars for New Zealand dryland situations.

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