{"id":5691,"date":"2024-02-05T12:08:35","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T20:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/?p=5691"},"modified":"2024-02-05T12:31:39","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T20:31:39","slug":"usc-researchers-uncover-biological-circuit-that-protects-plants-from-extreme-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/usc-researchers-uncover-biological-circuit-that-protects-plants-from-extreme-conditions\/","title":{"rendered":"USC researchers uncover biological circuit that protects plants from extreme conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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USC researchers uncover biological circuit that protects plants from extreme conditions<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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A new study shows that plants use their circadian clocks to regulate responses to changes in water and salinity, offering a new avenue for creating drought-resistant crops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n

\n Zara Abrams<\/span>\n \n February 05, 2024<\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n \n
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Bioluminescent image of Arabidopsis seedlings expressing circadian clock reporter genes in response to water stress. Tong Liang, PhD\/ Kay laboratory, USC<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n \n \n \n\n<\/div>\n \n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Climate change is already harming agricultural yields and may one day pose a significant threat<\/a> to the world\u2019s food supply. Engineering more resilient crops, including those able to thrive in the face of drought or high soil salinity levels, is an increasingly urgent need.<\/p>\n

A new study from the Keck School of Medicine of USC<\/a>, funded by the National Institutes of Health, reveals details about how plants regulate their responses to stress that may prove crucial to those efforts. Researchers found that plants use their circadian clocks to respond to changes in external water and salt levels throughout the day. That same circuitry\u2014an elegant feedback loop controlled by a protein known as ABF3\u2014also helps plants adapt to extreme conditions such as drought. The results were just published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is plants are stuck in place. They can\u2019t run around and grab a drink of water. They can\u2019t move into the shade when they want to or away from soil that has excess salt. Because of that, they\u2019ve evolved to use their circadian clocks to exquisitely measure and adapt to their environment,\u201d said the study\u2019s senior author, Steve A. Kay, PhD<\/a>, University and Provost Professor of Neurology, Biomedical Engineering and Quantitative Computational Biology at the Keck School of Medicine and Director of the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience<\/a>.<\/p>\n