Monsanto Company, 1920 Fifth Street, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2012 Apr;23(2):243-50. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2011.11.003. Epub 2011 Dec 9.
Water availability is a significant constraint to crop production, and increasing drought tolerance of crops is one step to gaining greater yield stability. Excellent progress has been made using models to identify pathways and genes that can be manipulated through biotechnology to improve drought tolerance. A current focus is on translation of results from models in controlled environments to crops in the field. Field testing to demonstrate improved yields under water-limiting conditions is challenging and expensive. More extensive phenotyping of transgenic lines in the greenhouse may contribute to improved predictions about field performance. It is possible that multiple mechanisms of drought tolerance may be needed to provide benefit across the diversity of water stress environments relevant to economic yield.
水资源的供应是作物生产的一个重要限制因素，提高作物的抗旱能力是提高产量稳定性的一个步骤。利用模型来识别可以通过生物技术进行操作的途径和基因，从而提高抗旱能力，已经取得了很好的进展。目前的重点是将模型在受控环境中的结果转化为田间作物。在田间条件下进行测试以证明在限水条件下提高产量是具有挑战性和昂贵的。在温室中对转基因品系进行更广泛的表型分析可能有助于提高对田间表现的预测。可能需要多种抗旱机制，才能在与经济产量相关的各种水分胁迫环境中提供益处。
