Photosystem II Subunit S overexpression increases the efficiency of water use in a field-grown crop

Authors

Katarzyna Glowacka, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Johannes Kromdijk, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Katherine Kucera, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Jiayang Xie, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Amanda P. Cavanagh, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Lauriebeth Leonelli, University of California - Berkeley
Andrew D. B. Leakey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Donald R. Ort, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Krishna K. Niyogi, University of California - BerkeleyFollow
Stephen P. Long, University of Illinois at Urbana ChampaignFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2018

Citation

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | (2018) 9:868

Comments

© The Author(s) 2018

Open access

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03231-x

Abstract

Insufficient water availability for crop production is a mounting barrier to achieving the 70% increase in food production that will be needed by 2050. One solution is to develop crops that require less water per unit mass of production. Water vapor transpires from leaves through stomata, which also facilitate the influx of CO2 during photosynthetic assimilation. Here, we hypothesize that Photosystem II Subunit S (PsbS) expression affects a chloroplastderived signal for stomatal opening in response to light, which can be used to improve wateruse efficiency. Transgenic tobacco plants with a range of PsbS expression, from undetectable to 3.7 times wild-type are generated. Plants with increased PsbS expression show less stomatal opening in response to light, resulting in a 25% reduction in water loss per CO₂ assimilated under field conditions. Since the role of PsbS is universal across higher plants, this manipulation should be effective across all crops.