The human population of the world is growing
exponentially. That means that we must feed more and more people as the years go on. A large-scale drought could be catastrophic to not just our country, but to the whole world. That is why scientists at UC Riverside have created a strategy to reprogram plants to consume less water.
When plants undergo drought conditions they release a stress hormone called ABA (abscisic acid). ABA inhibits plant growth by closing the stomata to reduce water loss. Scientists at UC Riverside came up with the idea to use mandipropamid as a cost effective replacement for ABA. They did this by using synthetic biological methods to develop a new receptor in
Arabidopsis plants to accept mandipropamid as ABA.
I believe this study is taking a huge step forward in dealing with potential problems that we may face in the future. Without studies like this taking place a large-scale drought could be catastrophic. If scientists find a way to apply this new information to make staple crops resistant to drought, it could be monumental.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150204134119.htm
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