Understanding the genes required
to manage the water retention of land plants is a great way to convert thirsty plants
into dry land resistant cultivars. While
wheat is already a dry land plant, there are plenty of plants that are not.
This work is very promising. Perhaps dry land potatoes are in the cards. In fact this is likely an excellent method to
stretch irrigation water.
Acacia is the best known dry land
tree. How about growing fruit and nut
trees with dry land skills? From the
comparable masses, it is obvious that the only real difference between an
acacia and a cherry tree is water retention.
I have already introduced idea of
the Eden
The key to life on land
by Staff Writers
A chance discovery of a genetic mutation in wild barley that grows in Israel 's Judean
Desert , in the course of a doctoral
study at the University
of Haifa
The study has been published in the prestigious journal PNAS.
"Life on Earth began in the water, and in order for plants to rise above
water to live on land, they had to develop a cuticle membrane that would
protect them from uncontrolled evaporation and dehydration.
"In our study we discovered a completely new gene that along
with other genes contributes to the formation of this cuticle," said Prof.
Eviatar Nevo of the Institute of Evolution of the University of Haifa
In the course of doctoral research carried out by Guoxiong Chen, which
began at the University of Haifa in 2000 under the supervision of Prof. Nevo,
the Chinese doctoral student found a mutation of wild barley in the Judean
Desert that was significantly smaller than regular wild barley.
It was found that this mutation causes an abnormal increase in water
loss because of a disruption in the production of the plant's cutin that is
secreted from the epidermal cells and is a component in the plant's cuticle
that reduces water loss and prevents the plant's dehydration.
Guoxiong Chen has since returned to China and achieved full
professorship while continuing his study of the Judean Desert's wild barley for
which he enrolled an international team of scholars from China, Japan,
Switzerland and Israel.
After about eight years of research, this team discovered a new gene
that contributes to the production of cutin, which is found in all land plants but
is either nonexistent or present in tiny amounts in aquatic plants. Chen called
this new gene Eibi1, in honor of his supervisor, Prof. Nevo.
"This is one of the genes that contributed to the actual
eventuality of life on land as we know it today. It is a key element in the
adaptation process that aquatic plants underwent in order to live on
land," explained Prof. Nevo.
Besides the evolutionary importance of this new gene, it is also of
value in the future enhancement of cereals.
According to Prof. Nevo, once we can fully understand the mechanism
behind the production of cutin and discover genetic variants of the Eibi1 gene,
we will have the ability to enhance the cuticle formation of wheat and barley
species so as to make them more resistant to water loss and more durable in the
dryer conditions on land.
"Genetic enhancement of cultivated plants to make them durable
in dry and saline conditions can increase food production around the
world," the researcher concluded.
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