CUHK team hopes to boost crops’ productivity

(CHINADAILY)

Ascientificbreakthroughthatmighthelpsolvefoodshortagesgloballybyboostingcrops’productivitywasannouncedonTuesdaybyalocalscientist.

Thebreakthroughdiscoverycouldfacilitatefurtherexplorationofwaystoenhanceagriculturalproductivityunderadverseconditions,suchascropdiseasesandsalinity.

ProfessorLamHon-mingfromtheChineseUniversityofHongKong(CUHK)ledateamtodiscovertheproteinresponsiblefordisruptingplants’diseaseresistanceandstresstolerance.

LamtoldChinaDailythatinthenextmovetoincreasetheproductivityofcrops,histeamwilltrytoremoveagenethatgeneratesaproteincalledYchF-typeproteinthatreducescrops’resilienceagainstdisease.

Henotedthattheremovaloftherelevantgeneiscalledgenomeediting,differentfromgeneticmodification–acontroversialapproachthatwouldintroduceanewgeneintothecrop.

ProfessorLam,whoisalsothedirectoroftheCentreforSoybeanResearchofthePartnerStateKeyLaboratoryofAgrobiotechnology,hopestheirdiscoverycouldhelpalleviateshortagesofcrops–settobeapressingissueworldwidewiththegrowingglobalpopulation.

AccordingaUnitedNationsestimate,foodproductivityneedstobedoubledby2050astheworldwidepopulationwillincreaseto9.3billionby2050.Buteveryyear,salinityisestimatedtoreduceagriculturalproductionbyupto70percentinirrigatedcropland.

Lamnotedcrops’capabilityincombatingdiseasesandthrivinginenvironmentalextremeswouldbecomeunprecedentedlyimportantinthefuture,giventhatdrought,flooding,salinityandotherenvironmentalfactorsthreaten96.5percentofglobalarablelandcurrently.

LamandhisteamdiscovereditistheRiceYchF-typeGproteinthatrestrainsplants’defenseresponseandstresstolerance.ThisisafteritbindstoATPandGTP,whicharetwoofthemainmoleculeshelpingdeliverenergyandinformationincells.Therefore,iftheproteincanbepreventedfromcombiningwithATPandGTP,thenegativefunctionsincrops'defenseresponsesandstresstoleranceshouldbeeliminated.

AnothercriticaldiscoverymadebyLamandhisteamafewyearsagoprovidedpossiblesolutions.AproteincalledOsGAP1wasprovedeffectiveinbreakingdownATPandGTPmolecules.WithoutATPandGTPbindingwiththeYchF-typeGprotein,plantscanperformbetterinprotectingthemselvesfromdiseasesandsurvivinginadverseenvironments.