By Andi Anderson
Drought stress has long been a barrier to crop production, made worse by climate change. Scientists at the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) have made significant progress in tackling this issue.
They’ve designed bioenergy crops that require less water but continue to thrive, helping farmers meet the challenges of water shortages.
CABBI researchers focused on improving a trait known as water use efficiency (WUE), which determines how much water a plant needs to grow efficiently.
Typically, enhancing WUE comes with the drawback of lower productivity when water is abundant. However, CABBI's efforts have aimed to avoid this tradeoff, especially for crops like sorghum and sugarcane.
In one study, the team inserted a gene into sorghum plants to reduce the number of stomata, the small pores on leaves that control water loss.
This allowed the plants to use water more efficiently without sacrificing their growth or biomass production. The results show promise in reducing the water demands of bioenergy crops, making them more resilient to drought.
Another study on sugarcane found that reducing the number of stomata caused the remaining pores to open wider, slightly offsetting the benefits. However, this discovery provides new insights into fine-tuning water efficiency and developing crops even better suited to dry conditions.
These breakthroughs hold great potential for expanding the regions where bioenergy crops can be grown, as well as ensuring consistent yields even in drought-prone areas. CABBI’s work represents a major step toward sustainable bioenergy production and a resilient agricultural system, crucial for addressing future food and energy needs.
Photo Credit: istock-mailson-pignata
Categories: Illinois, Education, Energy