Scientists discover new drought-resilient wheat gene, suitable for drier soil conditions

Subject : Agriculture

About the newly developed wheat variety-

Scientists at the John Innes Centre, in collaboration with an international team of researchers, discovered the new ‘reduced height’ or a semi-dwarf gene called Rht13, which is drought-resilient and can be grown in drier soil conditions.
Reduced height gene means that seeds can be planted deeper in the soil, giving access to moisture, without the adverse effect on seedling emergence seen with existing wheat varieties.
Since the 1960s and the Green Revolution, reduced height genes have increased global wheat yields because the short-stemmed wheat they produce puts more investment into the grains rather than into the stems and has improved standing ability.
However, these genes bred into wheat also have the significant disadvantage of not working in drought-like conditions.
When these varieties are planted deeper to access moisture in water-limited environments, they can fail to reach the surface of the soil.
The newly discovered gene overcomes this problem of seedling emergence because the gene acts in tissues higher up in the wheat stem.
So, the dwarfing mechanism only takes effect once the seedling has fully emerged. This gives farmers a significant advantage when planting deeper in dry conditions.