Journal
NEW PHYTOLOGIST
Volume 208, Issue 2, Pages 336-341Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL
DOI: 10.1111/nph.13598
Keywords
Arabidopsis thaliana; drought tolerance; epidermal patterning factor (EPF); mass flow; nitrate; stomata; transpiration; water use efficiency
Categories
Funding
- BBSRC
- EPSRC
- Royal Society University Research Fellowship
- BBSRC [BB/N004167/1, BB/I002154/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/N004167/1, BB/I002154/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [1248095] Funding Source: researchfish
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Manipulation of stomatal density was investigated as a potential tool for enhancing drought tolerance or nutrient uptake. Drought tolerance and soil water retention were assessed using Arabidopsis epidermal patterning factor mutants manipulated to have increased or decreased stomatal density. Root nutrient uptake via mass flow was monitored under differing plant watering regimes using nitrogen-15 (N-15) isotope and mass spectrometry. Plants with less than half of their normal complement of stomata, and correspondingly reduced levels of transpiration, conserve soil moisture and are highly drought tolerant but show little or no reduction in shoot nitrogen concentrations especially when water availability is restricted. By contrast, plants with over twice the normal density of stomata have a greater capacity for nitrogen uptake, except when water availability is restricted. We demonstrate the possibility of producing plants with reduced transpiration which have increased drought tolerance, with little or no loss of nutrient uptake. We demonstrate that increasing transpiration can enhance nutrient uptake when water is plentiful.
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