Expression and Function of a Highly Conserved Water Stress Protein

摘要

New Mexico agriculture depends upon irrigation to avoid water deficit stress inagricultural crops. Targeted manipulation of plant genomes for enhanced salinity and water deficit tolerance through genetic engineering will require a sophisticated understanding of plant water stress proteins and their genes. Photosynthetic cyanobacteria, the free-living relatives of chloroplasts, share with higher plants at least one ubiquitous water stress protein, dehydrin. The biochemical function of dehydrin is still unknown. Our goal has been to clone and sequence the cyanodehydrin gene. Knock-out mutagenesis would then afford an opportunity to study dehydrin function during water stress. Ultimately, these studies should empower rational improvements in water and salt-stress tolerance.