Increased drought tolerance in plants engineered for low lignin and low xylan content.

ABSTRACT:

Background

We previously developed several strategies to engineer plants to produce cost-efficient biofuels from plant biomass. Engineered Arabidopsis plants with low xylan and lignin content showed normal growth and improved saccharification efficiency under standard growth conditions. However, it remains to be determined whether these engineered plants perform well under drought stress, which is the primary source of abiotic stress in the field.

Results

Upon exposing engineered Arabidopsis plants to severe drought, we observed better survival rates in those with a low degree of xylan acetylation, low lignin, and low xylan content compared to those in wild-type plants. Increased pectic galactan content had no effect on drought tolerance. The drought-tolerant plants exhibite

SUBMITTER: Yan J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6050699 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature