{"id":30079,"date":"2017-10-26T11:01:56","date_gmt":"2017-10-26T15:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/?p=30079"},"modified":"2021-06-21T15:06:40","modified_gmt":"2021-06-21T19:06:40","slug":"building-better-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/building-better-plants\/","title":{"rendered":"Building better plants"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”text-container first-paragraph”]<\/p>\n

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Lisa Donovan was interested in factors related to climate change long before it become a household term. As a child, she spent summers with her grandparents at Broadkill Beach, Delaware, in a house she describes as a \u201csardine can stuck on pilings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a phenomenal place for a kid to grow up,\u201d she said, with the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean on one side, and salt marsh\u2014part of the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge\u2014on the other. It made her curious about what grew where, and why.<\/p>\n

During college she worked in a greenhouse, and as a master\u2019s student, she researched salinity issues in salt marsh grasses. While earning her Ph.D. at the University of Utah, she studied spiny desert shrubs and fell in love with the desert \u201cheart and soul.\u201d Much of her early work focused on the efficiency of water use in desert plants.<\/p>\n

Now, 25 years after earning her doctorate, Donovan feels like she\u2019s come full circle. Issues once driven by her curiosity have come into sharp focus under the lens of climate change.<\/p>\n

\"University
There\u2019s usually a trade-off between performance and resilience, according to Distinguished Research Professor Lisa Donovan. Plants that grow the fastest or produce the most seeds often are more vulnerable to unfavorable conditions. (Photo by Jason Thrasher)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMost of my background comes from seeing a pattern in nature and wanting to explain it,\u201d said Donovan, Distinguished Research Professor and head of the department of plant biology. \u201cWhy does this population grow on this slope and something a little different on another slope?\u201d<\/p>\n

Such questions are becoming more urgent. The United Nations has estimated that by 2050, the world population will reach more than 9 billion, requiring increased food production. Scientists are debating how much of an increase will be needed, with estimates ranging from 25 to 100 percent more.<\/p>\n

But a changing climate makes that more complicated, so researchers are exploring factors like salt tolerance and drought\u2014issues that have intrigued Donovan for years\u2014to figure out the best ways to grow plants in an uncertain landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cFolks are paying more attention now that we realize shifting climate is going to massively affect native plants and agricultural systems,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not easy being green<\/span><\/h3>\n

In a changing climate, stress tolerance becomes really important, according to Chung-Jui \u201cC.J.\u201d Tsai, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and professor of forestry and natural resources, and genetics. She uses model systems to find mechanisms that are applicable to any plants.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you grow crops\u2014whether they are woody or perennial\u2014under changing climate?\u201d she said. \u201cYou could improve the wood quality, but it won\u2019t matter if plants can\u2019t grow under limited water and nutrient reserves. The number one priority is harvestable biomass, which means stress tolerance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tsai\u2019s research has shown that overproducing salicylic acid allows a plant to better tolerate drought and heat. However, it negatively affects growth in annual crops.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re testing molecular remedies in the lab to overcome this growth penalty, with promising results,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A delicate balance<\/span><\/h3>\n

Often it\u2019s about balance\u2014finding a way to bring in one trait without sacrificing or compromising another.<\/p>\n

Katrien Devos studies grass genomes including wheat, millets and switchgrass, a forage and biofuel crop. Upland switchgrass, common to drier, colder areas of North America, yields less but is cold tolerant. Lowland switchgrass, common to wetter, warmer areas like the Southeast, yields more but suffers in cold weather, she said. One of her projects involves isolating the trait for cold tolerance and bringing it into lowland switchgrass, creating a high-yield plant that could be grown in more habitats.<\/p>\n

\"University
Professor Katrien Devos is one of many UGA plant scientists searching for ways to help plants thrive in changing conditions. Devos researches a variety of plants including switchgrass (above) and millets. Pearl millet and finger millet are known as orphan crops because they get less attention than crops like wheat and rice, but they\u2019re an important food source in the developing world. (Photo by Terry Allen)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She also studies seashore paspalum, a highly salt-tolerant turfgrass. It\u2019s a sustainable choice for sports fields and golf courses, and its genetic basis has implications for food crops\u2014if researchers can increase the salt tolerance of cereal crops, then land previously considered unsuitable based on salinity can be used for food production.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would particularly benefit the developing world, where land is badly degraded,\u201d said Devos, professor of plant biology and crop and soil sciences. \u201cBut interest in climate-resilient crops will increase as climate patterns change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her work also involves orphan food crops, such as pearl millet and finger millet, that are key to food security in semi-arid regions of Africa and South Asia. Unlike the major cereal crops, little research has been done on millets; they lack the molecular tools that have accelerated maize improvement, for example, over the past two decades. Identifying the whole genome sequence\u2014the complete genetic information\u2014for these species offers considerable potential for improvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy working on crops that have undergone little improvement but already are well adapted to adverse conditions, we should be able to make significant yield gains over a relatively short period,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

And progress already has been made\u2014Devos is part of a global team that sequenced the pearl millet genome. The research, published this year in the journal Nature Biotechnology, identified new genetic tools like molecular markers related to drought and heat tolerance.<\/p>\n

Good genes<\/span><\/h3>\n

Earlier this year, John Burke and an international team that included Donovan published the first sunflower genome sequence, a project that took about 10 years and, like the pearl millet genome, has implications for climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the need for more agricultural products increases, as the population grows, we\u2019re going to have to produce plants that can do more with less,\u201d Burke said.<\/p>\n

Key traits related to stress tolerance\u2014the ability to thrive despite drought, salinity and low nutrients, for example\u2014are becoming more important, and the genome is a genetic road map that will help pinpoint the underlying mechanisms that allow a plant to do well in a specific environment. The researchers have markers across the genome that act as signposts, according to Burke, professor of plant biology.<\/p>\n

\"University
Professor John Burke (left) and Ph.D. candidate Rishi Masalia discuss a method for RNA sequencing. Among plant scientists, there is growing interest in exploring what happens below ground, where a plant interacts with the soil, Burke said. (Photo by Jason Thrasher)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe can compare different plant lines, establishing correlations between changes in a certain part of the genome and how they respond to the environment,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will help us identify, on a genetic level, why one line performs better than another.\u201d<\/p>\n

The genome project focused on cultivated sunflowers, which are used primarily for oil. Burke and Donovan are also looking at wild sunflower populations\u2014some of which already have the ability to thrive in compromised habitats.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these habitats represent the types of challenges that limit modern agriculture,\u201d Burke said. \u201cThey grow in nutrient poor environments, or in a highly saline environment, and they\u2019ve adapted to deal with it. Are there natural variations that we can move into the cultivated crop gene pool to deal with some of these challenges?\u201d<\/p>\n

Big data bottleneck<\/span><\/h3>\n

Burke and Donovan have a five-acre field site in California that\u2019s full of sunflowers. It would take half a day just to walk the site, Donovan said, without recording any data.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real bottleneck is no longer the lab tools for looking at the genetics,\u201d Burke said. \u201cIt\u2019s possible to sequence a genome and genetically characterize a bunch of different lines, but growing the plants and evaluating them is very labor intensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advances in equipment and technology\u2014the use of tractors, ATVs and drones to quickly collect troves of data, for example\u2014have improved phenotyping, or gathering data on a plant\u2019s physical characteristics (see story on page 32). But linking those massive amounts of information back to individual plant lines requires data processing solutions.<\/p>\n

And once that barrier has been surmounted, there\u2019s another. Translating genetic data into a plant with specific desired characteristics is the next big leap, according to Donovan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are 288 different lines in the sunflower project, and we can describe them really well,\u201d she said. \u201cWe know lots about the genes, but knowing how we get from there to the plant with the right growth and resilience is more of a black box than we would like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creating cultivars<\/span><\/h3>\n

Research from scientists like Burke and Donovan is speeding up a traditionally slow process and offering new tools for plant breeders. Zenglu Li works in both genetics and breeding for soybeans, using genome-guided research to create new plant cultivars.<\/p>\n

Its high protein and oil content make soybeans a globally important crop, with uses including food, animal feed, oil for cooking, biodiesel and ink. Li is working to develop cultivars that are high quality, high yield, resistant to diseases and insects, and tolerant of herbicides and drought.<\/p>\n

To help with weed control, he has licensed technology from industry, adding a transgene\u2014a gene taken from another organism\u2014that he hopes will lead to herbicide tolerance. Drought is also a major issue in soybean production, especially in the South.<\/p>\n

\"University
Associate Professor Zenglu Li (photo at top of story) worked in the agricultural industry before joining UGA, where he continues his research focused on improving soybeans (above). (Photo by Terry Allen)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cDrought tolerance is a major challenge,\u201d said Li, associate professor in crop and soil sciences. \u201cHow can we use less water to get a good yield?\u201d<\/p>\n

Like his colleagues across the university, Li is trying to identify a particular gene and relate it back to plants in the field, a time-consuming endeavor.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlant breeding is a long process,\u201d he said. \u201cCultivar development takes eight to 10 years, so development and utilization of new technologies to accelerate the breeding cycle is important.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fellowship of the plant<\/span><\/h3>\n

As Donovan tells her students, there\u2019s no one ring to rule them all.\u00a0 What she means is that there\u2019s no one trait that accounts for plant performance in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like human physiology. There\u2019s no one marker for good health,\u201d she said. \u201cEverything has to be coordinated and balanced.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an ecophysiologist, Donovan investigates how plant processes are carried out in the surrounding environment. Her work is done in the field, the greenhouse and the lab\u2014unlike Burke, who\u2019s mostly in the lab. Though they are co-PIs on a grant, the differences in their backgrounds can be challenging.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t talk the same language in terms of our training and what we do on a day-to-day basis,\u201d she said. \u201cWe practically have to have a cheat sheet of \u2018What does that mean?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes their expectations have to be tempered, according to Donovan. For example, Burke will ask her for a trait that makes a plant water-stress tolerant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been studying this for 100 years, and there\u2019s no one trait,\u201d she\u2019ll tell him. \u201cIt\u2019s a whole bunch of traits, and it\u2019s context dependent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Or Donovan will ask Burke about the genetic basis of a particular trait and get this response: \u201cAre you kidding? It\u2019s not that simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

But she believes that both sides are needed to design more resilient crops. Such integration is fostered through UGA\u2019s Plant Center, which cultivates interaction among plant science researchers across the university\u2019s departments, colleges and campuses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best science right now is collaborative,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cThat\u2019s actually a fun part. You never get bored in this field.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”text-container first-paragraph”] Lisa Donovan was interested in factors related to climate change long before it become a household term. As a child, she spent summers with her grandparents at Broadkill Beach, Delaware, in a house she describes as a \u201csardine can stuck on pilings.\u201d \u201cIt was a phenomenal place for a kid to grow … <\/p>\n

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