Scientists Create Genetically Modified Tobacco Crop That Uses 25% Less Water

Could the future of agriculture be genetically modified crops that are engineered to use less water? If water harvesting and water transporting techniques are not improved, it might have to be – at least in some places. Fortunately, scientists may have found a solution.

Tobacco Crop — This photo shows a tobacco crop. (Image via Pixabay)

According to new research published in the journal Nature Communications, a group of researchers has genetically engineered a tobacco test crop that uses 25% less water, yet produces roughly the same harvest.

In order to achieve this, the scientists behind the research modified the small pores on plant leaves that allow CO2 to flow in and water and oxygen to flow out, which are known as stomata. By increasing the expression of the Photosystem II Subunit S (PsBs) protein, the researchers found that they were able to restrict the stomatal opening and in turn reduce the amount of water shed by the plants while still managing to retain similar amounts of CO2 absorption.

Dr. Katarzyna Glowacka with the University of Illinois Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, one of the study’s lead researchers, was quoted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) as having said that the finding of their research “is very big.”

“By overexpressing only one protein we could achieve something like 25 percent, one-fourth better water efficiency, this is very big.”

While the achievement may prove beneficial to the tobacco industry at large, it may also pave the way for future research into other types of crops that could in turn prove beneficial to the world at large.

The researchers behind the study plan to look at C4 crops next, such as sugarcane, corn, soy bean, and sorghum.

The genetically modified tobacco test crop that the researchers grew was grown in a controlled environment in which it received an abundance of sunlight and water. Subsequently, extensive studies must now be conducted in order to determine of the modified crop has real world viability.