Improving drought tolerance

Stresses such as excess light and drought reduce plant yield and can be lethal. We are identifying the mechanisms by which plants perceive and respond to drought and excess light.

The approach utilizes cutting-edge genomic technologies, such as DNA chip arrays and high throughput screening of promoter-reporter gene fusions to identify novel genes and signalling pathways in the model plant, Arabidopsis. We have identified "gain-of-function" mutants that withstand drought.

Ultimately, an understanding of these mechanisms will be incorporated into traditional plant breeding programs towards improving crop yield.

Rossel, J.B., Walter, P.B, Hendrickson, L., Chow, W., Poole, A., Mullineaux, P., and Pogson, B.J. (2006) A mutation affecting ascorbate peroxidase 2 gene expression reveals a link between responses to high light and drought tolerance. Plant Cell and Environment, 29:269-281.