Scientists Find Hormone That Allows Seeds To Germinate In Low Water Conditions (ucr.edu) 26
Slashdot reader StellarThoughts shares an announcement from the University of California, Riverside. (Alternate URL):
Plants have the ability to perceive drought. When they do, they emit a hormone that helps them hold on to water. This same hormone, ABA, sends a message to seeds that it isn't a good time to germinate, leading to lower crop yields and less food in places where it's hot — an increasingly long list as a result of climate change.
"If you block ABA, you mess with the chemical pathway that plants use to prevent seed germination," said Aditya Vaidya, UC Riverside project scientist and study author. "Our new chemical, Antabactin, does exactly this. If we apply it, we have shown that dormant seeds will sprout."
Demonstrations of Antabactin's effectiveness are described in a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This work builds on the same team's creation of a chemical that mimics the effects of the ABA hormone, produced by plants in response to drought stress. That chemical, Opabactin, slows a plant's growth so it conserves water and doesn't wilt. It works by inducing plants to close tiny pores in their leaves and stems, which prevents water from escaping. Next, the team wanted to find a molecule that would have the opposite effect, opening the pores, encouraging germination and increasing plant growth. Though seed dormancy has largely been removed through breeding, it is still a problem in some crops like lettuce. Sean Cutler, a UC Riverside plant cell biology professor and study co-author, said accelerating and slowing plant growth are important tools for farmers. "Our research is all about managing both of these needs," he said...
In their paper, the team members showed that applying Antabactin to barley and tomato seeds accelerated germination. Conceivably, both Antabactin and Opabactin could work together to help crops flourish in a world becoming drier and hotter. Once Antabactin has helped seeds sprout into healthy plants, a farmer might start saving water early in the growing season by spraying Opabactin. This way, enough water is "banked" for when the plants start flowering.
"If you block ABA, you mess with the chemical pathway that plants use to prevent seed germination," said Aditya Vaidya, UC Riverside project scientist and study author. "Our new chemical, Antabactin, does exactly this. If we apply it, we have shown that dormant seeds will sprout."
Demonstrations of Antabactin's effectiveness are described in a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This work builds on the same team's creation of a chemical that mimics the effects of the ABA hormone, produced by plants in response to drought stress. That chemical, Opabactin, slows a plant's growth so it conserves water and doesn't wilt. It works by inducing plants to close tiny pores in their leaves and stems, which prevents water from escaping. Next, the team wanted to find a molecule that would have the opposite effect, opening the pores, encouraging germination and increasing plant growth. Though seed dormancy has largely been removed through breeding, it is still a problem in some crops like lettuce. Sean Cutler, a UC Riverside plant cell biology professor and study co-author, said accelerating and slowing plant growth are important tools for farmers. "Our research is all about managing both of these needs," he said...
In their paper, the team members showed that applying Antabactin to barley and tomato seeds accelerated germination. Conceivably, both Antabactin and Opabactin could work together to help crops flourish in a world becoming drier and hotter. Once Antabactin has helped seeds sprout into healthy plants, a farmer might start saving water early in the growing season by spraying Opabactin. This way, enough water is "banked" for when the plants start flowering.
Maybe it does some good (Score:2)
So how many decades until we find out the nutritional damage and decades after that, the soil damage created by industrialized use of this?
We have more food than we need; we just won't get it to where it is needed because of money and politics. Poor starving people likely won't be able to use any of this these tech solutions to their problems. (think GMO which has tied them to expensive seeds they must buy and the whole related chemical addiction.)
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As you say, humans know exactly how to grow food that is healthy without all the chemicals. If there is low water in some area, dig deeper tube wells, and build aquafers. Or, move to areas where there is more abundant fresh water. So what if the seeds sprout under low water conditions? If there isn't enough water, the plants will wither and die. That's why the seeds were not sprouting in the first place, because the conditions are not conducive to plant growth.
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Better germination means fewer seeds need to be planted, and fewer acres need to be plowed.
These new seeds mean the first irrigation can be delayed until the plants are sprouted and have roots. With traditional seeds, farmers need to irrigate just to germinate, yet little of that water is absorbed. That means millions of acre-feet of wasted water.
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That is for large agribusiness farming, not the much smaller scale farming that happens in most places. Feeding the world will require more distributed small scale farming so that transportation is not the issue.
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That is for large agribusiness farming
Why does better germination only help big farms?
The green revolution was real (Score:3)
Sure, people have been growing food for 10,000 years.
But in the last 100 years we doubled and doubled and doubled again the food we can produce from the same land. Using "technology". Without that, most of the world would starve. (Which may or may not be a bad thing depending on who you are.)
Re: Maybe it does some good (Score:2)
What about environmental and mental damage caused by wars because people like you will not allow enough food to be grown?
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What about environmental and mental damage caused by wars because people like you will not allow enough food to be grown?
If the seed is in a low water setting, forcing it to germinate doesn't necessarily mean the plant will grow properly as they still need sufficient water for that. Perhaps this chemical can jump-start the growing process, but if the low-water situation persists plant growth may falter. Perhaps not a show stopper, but I'll offer this quote by "Jason Mendoza" on "The Good Place" as a metaphor:
I'm telling you, Molotov cocktails work. Anytime I had a problem and I threw a Molotov cocktail -- boom! Right away, I had a different problem.
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So how many decades until we find out the nutritional damage and decades after that, the soil damage created by industrialized use of this?
There is no plausible reason this will affect nutrition.
Higher yields mean LESS soil damage, since fewer acres need to be plowed.
Even better, GMO crops enable no-till farming [wikipedia.org] that leads to dramatic reductions in erosion and loss of carbon from soil.
GMO which has tied them to expensive seeds they must buy
Most GMO seeds went off-patent years ago.
Anyone can plant them, save the seed, and pay $0.
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So how many decades until we find out the nutritional damage and decades after that, the soil damage created by industrialized use of this?
Ah, the left equivalent of the antivax argument.
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Thank you for smoking.
If this isn't second guessing nature... (Score:2)
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This is clearly a survival/resilience mechanism for these seeds. What do we get for defeating?
According to the summary, it's already been bred out of many seed crops, through traditional breeding methods. So your answer is already there, you just have to look at existing crops.
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Considering how much they are willing to alter the soil contents already, I think this just takes it a logical step forward. Seriously, a HUGE amount of fertilizer goes into run-off water if you do nothing to prevent it and that's why Florida has obscenely large and toxic algae blooms.
ABA Hormone (Score:2)
This same hormone also makes the plants harmonize "Chiquitita" in chipmunk voices. At some point they're glad to be harvested, just to make it stop.
Possible alternative (Score:2)
I wonder if they considered just sprinkling some water on the seeds instead...
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Water usage (Score:2)
Industrial farms use far more water per acre than smaller farms that are worked by hand. Big irrigation often applies water in such a way that a significant amount evaporates before the plants can get to it, especially on very hot days. You won't get less germination if you have the water when the seeds need to germinate. The invention is to get them to germinate with much less water around. If you pre-soak seeds before planting, You will get near maximum germination. My general point is that more chemicals
RE: What do you need to know about a shop for sale (Score:1)