Scientists study plants' drought response

A study of plants' response to stress during times when water is scarce could lead to engineering drought-resistant crops, U.S. researchers say. Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, say they've examined how plants produce a stress hormone called abscisic acid to activate a set of protein molecules called receptors when they encounter drought, molecules that then turn on processes that help the plants survive. These changes typically include guard cells closing on leaves to reduce water loss, cessation of plant growth to reduce water consumption and myriad other stress-relieving responses, a university release said Monday. Learning how to rewire this cellular machinery could bring drought-resistant crops one step closer to reality, the researchers said. "Receptors are the cell's conductors and the abscisic acid receptors orchestrate the specific symphony that elicits stress tolerance," Sean Cutler, a member of UC Riverside's Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, said. "We've now figured out how to turn the orchestra on at will." However, taking this basic science from the lab into the field is a process that could take many years, the researchers said.