Due to the increase in the world population and economic growth, it is predicted that by 2050, food production will need to be increased by more than 1.6 times the current level.There is an urgent need to improve the stable and sustainable production of crops. In particular, since drought has a great influence on the growth and yield of crops, we understand the mechanism of the drought stress response of plants and apply the technology. There is a need to develop crops that show high productivity even in poor environments.
Under these circumstances, a collaborative research group of RIKEN and the University of Tokyo discovered that plants use the mobile "CLE25 peptide" in the body to exchange information between roots and leaves to enhance drought stress tolerance. ..
When a plant feels drought stress, it synthesizes abscisic acid (ABA), which is one of the plant hormones. ABA closes the stomata of the leaves and prevents the loss of water from the plant body, but how does the plant promote ABA synthesis in the leaves after the roots are sensitive to the drought stress caused by the decrease in soil water? Was unknown for a long time.
This time, the collaborative research group discovered the "CLE25 peptide" released from root cells into the canal when plants are subjected to drought stress.Furthermore, it was clarified that when this peptide migrates to the leaf and binds to the receptor, a signal that initiates the synthesis of ABA is transmitted into the vascular cells of the leaf.
From this result, it was clarified that plants use mobile peptides to exchange information between distant tissues such as roots and leaves and respond to drought stress.In the future, by elucidating the molecular mechanism of the drought stress response by peptides in more detail and applying the obtained findings, we will create crops that are resistant to environmental stress such as drought, and apply plant peptides to the plant growth environment. It is expected that it will lead to technological development such as.
Paper information:[Nature] A small peptide modulates stomatal control via abscisic acid in long-distance signaling
