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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbus, Ohio » Soil Drainage Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #102344

Title: PRODUCING FLOOD TOLERANT CROPS: WHAT DOES IT TAKE?

Author
item VANTOAI, TARA

Submitted to: Brazilian Congress of Plant Physiology
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/2/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Periods of flooding during the growing season adversely affect crop growth and grain production in many areas of the world. The advancement of molecular plant breeding techniques allows the incorporation of flooding tolerance into high-yield cultivars. We have conducted field, greenhouse and growth chamber studies to: a) develop efficient screening techniques for flooding tolerance; b) map flood tolerance QTL; c) identify genes associated with the flooding tolerance response; and d) improve flooding tolerance by genetic transformation. Soybean is very tolerance to the lack of oxygen, but is sensitive to elevated CO2 levels in the root zone. A number of QTL for soybean tolerance to complete submergence and root flooding have been identified as well as a shaggy kinase gene that was uniquely expressed in the flood tolerant genotype Huai 849 after 3 days of submergence. Transgenic Arabidopsis lines containing the ipt gene for cytokinin biosynthesis are more tolerant to submergence and waterlogging than wild type plants. The results indicate that the use of molecular plant breeding and genetic transformation to produce flood-tolerant cultivars will pay major dividends in the near future.