Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 10, 2025
06:35
Semi-High Throughput Screening for Potential Drought-tolerance in Lettuce Lactuca sativa Germplasm Collections
Published on: April 17, 2015
9.3K
Sink Strength Maintenance Underlies Drought Tolerance in Common Bean
Amber Hageman1, Elizabeth Van Volkenburgh1
1Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Plants (Basel, Switzerland)
|April 3, 2021
Summary
Common bean yield under drought is limited by a growth-halting trait. Some bred lines maintain yield by sustaining seed filling and growth, suggesting improved sink strength is key for drought resilience.
Area of Science:
- Plant science
- Agricultural science
- Crop physiology
Background:
- Drought significantly limits common bean yield, impacting global food security.
- Wild common bean traits, like halting growth during drought, reduce yield in domesticated varieties.
- Determinate growth habits in some common beans exacerbate yield loss under drought.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the physiological basis for drought tolerance in common bean.
- Identify traits that enable certain bred lines to maintain yield under water-limited conditions.
- Understand the role of sink strength in common bean yield under drought stress.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of common bean lines with varying drought tolerance.
- Assessment of physiological traits including photosynthesis, growth rates, and seed filling.
- Evaluation of resource allocation and partitioning efficiency under drought stress.
Main Results:
- Higher yielding common bean lines under drought maintain growth and seed filling rates.
- Maintenance of sink strength, indicated by resource uptake and metabolism in seeds, correlates with higher yield.
- Drought-induced limitations on metabolism and resource uptake, mediated by abscisic acid (ABA), are implicated.
Conclusions:
- Sink strength is a critical factor for maintaining common bean yield during drought.
- Bred lines with enhanced drought tolerance may possess reduced sensitivity or production of abscisic acid (ABA).
- Understanding these mechanisms can guide breeding strategies for improved drought resilience in common beans.
Related Concept Videos
02:41Responses to Drought and Flooding
11.4K
Water plays a significant role in the life cycle of plants. However, insufficient or excess of water can be detrimental and pose a serious threat to plants.
11.4K
01:57Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss
27.1K
Though evaporation from plant leaves drives transpiration, it also results in loss of water. Because water is critical for photosynthetic reactions and other cellular processes, evolutionary pressures on plants in different environments have driven the acquisition of adaptations that reduce water loss.
27.1K
02:02Responses to Salt Stress
13.7K
Salt stress—which can be triggered by high salt concentrations in a plant’s environment—can significantly affect plant growth and crop production by influencing photosynthesis and the absorption of water and nutrients.
13.7K
00:53Tonicity in Plants
58.2K
Tonicity describes the capacity of a cell to lose or gain water. It depends on the quantity of solute that does not penetrate the membrane. Tonicity delimits the magnitude and direction of osmosis and results in three possible scenarios that alter the volume of a cell: hypertonicity, hypotonicity, and isotonicity. Due to differences in structure and physiology, tonicity of plant cells is different from that of animal cells in some scenarios.
58.2K
01:20Tonicity in Plants
31.7K
Plant cells maintain appropriate osmotic balance in extreme conditions. For instance, plants in dry environments store water in vacuoles, limit the opening of their stoma, and have thick, waxy cuticles to prevent unnecessary water loss. Some species of plants that live in salty environments store salt in their roots. As a result, water osmosis occurs in the root from the surrounding soil.
Tonicity
Tonicity describes the capacity of a cell to lose or gain water depending on the solute...
Tonicity
Tonicity describes the capacity of a cell to lose or gain water depending on the solute...
31.7K
02:45Responses to Heat and Cold Stress
14.2K
Every organism has an optimum temperature range within which healthy growth and physiological functioning can occur. At the ends of this range, there will be a minimum and maximum temperature that interrupt biological processes.
14.2K