Biological Resources and Post-harvest Division, Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8686, Japan.
Crop, Livestock and Environment Division, JIRCAS, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8686, Japan.
Nat Commun. 2023 Aug 19;14(1):5047. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-40773-1.
Drought severely damages crop production, even under conditions so mild that the leaves show no signs of wilting. However, it is unclear how field-grown plants respond to mild drought. Here, we show through six years of field trials that ridges are a useful experimental tool to mimic mild drought stress in the field. Mild drought reduces inorganic phosphate levels in the leaves to activate the phosphate starvation response (PSR) in soybean plants in the field. Using Arabidopsis thaliana and its mutant plants grown in pots under controlled environments, we demonstrate that PSR occurs before abscisic acid response under progressive mild drought and that PSR plays a crucial role in plant growth under mild drought. Our observations in the field and laboratory using model crop and experimental plants provide insight into the molecular response to mild drought in field-grown plants and the relationship between nutrition and drought stress response.
干旱严重破坏作物生产，即使在叶片没有萎蔫迹象的轻度条件下也是如此。然而，目前尚不清楚田间生长的植物如何应对轻度干旱。在这里，我们通过六年的田间试验表明，垄作是一种有用的实验工具，可以在田间模拟轻度干旱胁迫。轻度干旱会降低叶片中的无机磷酸盐水平，从而激活田间大豆植株的磷酸盐饥饿响应（PSR）。利用在受控环境下种植于盆中的拟南芥及其突变体植物，我们证明了在渐进性轻度干旱下，PSR 先于脱落酸响应发生，并且 PSR 在轻度干旱下的植物生长中起关键作用。我们在田间和实验室中使用模式作物和实验植物的观察结果，为田间生长植物对轻度干旱的分子响应以及营养与干旱胁迫响应之间的关系提供了深入了解。
