L34 2025 - Feeding the World

Page 1: Introduction

• Title: Feeding the world

• Topic: Crop Production under Environmental Stress

• Presenter: Professor Anna Amtmann

• Affiliation: University of Glasgow MVLS/SMB

Page 2: Achieving Food Security

• Strategies:

  • Expand agricultural practices

  • Intensify production methods

  • Employ smart strategies

• Key Points:

  • Utilize more land surfaces, including marginal lands

  • Cultivate suitable crops/varieties in optimal locations and times

  • Optimize the use of both fresh and stored resources, input, and yield

  • Manage distribution and resources effectively

  • Initiate local solutions and develop a comprehensive master plan

  • Aim for higher yields per land surface and increased nutritional value through plant science

Page 3: Land Usage Limitations

• Land Surface Constraints:

  • Current land surface limits the increase of food production

  • Further extension into other land may have climate implications

• Considerations:

  • Water requirements for extended agriculture

  • Need for different crop varieties suited to various land conditions

  • Can current agricultural land be utilized more efficiently? Options include cultivated grazing.

Page 4: Biofuel Production

• Types of Crops:

  • Food Crops: Utilized for human consumption such as maize, sugar cane

  • Non-Food Crops: Grown for biofuels such as Miscanthus (Elephant grass) and switchgrass

  • Innovative Sources: Algae can be grown for biofuels as well

  • Strategy: Move non-food crops into marginal lands or oceans to free up arable land for food production.

Page 5: Expanding Food Production into Marginal Lands

• Characteristics of Marginal Lands:

  • Dry, hot, cold, saline, nutrient-poor, and polluted areas

• Limiting Factors:

  • Consideration of abiotic stressors affecting crop production

Page 6: Maintaining Production on Marginal Lands

• Challenges:

  • Good lands becoming marginal due to overuse, salinization, pollution, and climate change

  • Need to identify techniques that can maintain productivity

Page 7: Irrigation Challenges

• Irrigation Issues:

  • Irrigation water can contain salt, even if non-distilled freshwater is used

  • Salt accumulation due to evaporation during irrigation leads to secondary salinization

• Impact on Agriculture:

  • Secondary salinity affects future agricultural practices, making it difficult to grow most crops in soils with high NaCl levels.

Page 8: Transgenic Salt-Tolerant Crops

• Research Study: Zhang HX, Blumwald E (2001)

  • Focused on transgenic salt-tolerant tomato plants

  • NHX1 gene enables the plant to exclude salts from meristems and fruits

  • Mechanism: NHX1 protein exchanges toxic Na+ ions for protons, storing Na+ in vacuoles to improve plant growth under saline conditions.

Page 9: Development of Tolerant Plants

• Biofuels and Human Consumption:

  • Focus on crops suitable for consumption or biofuel production

  • Community Projects: In locations like Mexico and Eritrea to develop salt-tolerant plants

  • Halophytes: Salicornia (e.g., Samphire) considered for saline agriculture

Page 10: Summary of Food Security Strategies

• Reiteration of Food Security Strategies as discussed in Page 2

Page 11: Yield Potential and Gaps

• Key Terms:

  • Yp = Yield Potential

  • Y = Actual Yield

  • Yg = Yield gap (Yg = Yp - Y)

• Crops and Yields Comparison:

  • Comprehensive data on various crops: maize, wheat, soybean, etc.

Page 12: Closing the Yield Gap

• Statistics:

  • 69% increase in food calories required by 2050 to feed 9.6 billion people

  • Importance of enhancing tolerance to abiotic stress.

Page 13: Yield Sensitivity to Abiotic Stress

• Yield Data:

  • Trends showing declines in yield sensitivity due to climate events

  • Emotional correlations of different extreme weather conditions to crop yield

Page 14: Aims for Improvement

• Goals:

  • Increase CO2 assimilation and stress resistance in crops

  • Focus on leaf stomata as the central element of carbon-water cycles

Page 15: Water Deficits and Plant Responses

• Hormonal Response:

  • Production of abscisic acid (ABA) during water deficit triggers responses like stomata closure to reduce water loss

• Mutant Studies:

  • Research on ABA-insensitive mutants to study impacts on CO2 uptake and overheating

Page 16: Measuring Plant Responses

• Experimental Setup:

  • Measurement of gas exchange using leaf chambers

  • Parameters controlled: CO2 levels, humidity, light conditions, temperature

Page 17: ABA Receptor Interactions

• Mechanism of Stress Response:

  • ABA receptor linkage with protein phosphatase (ABI1) for signal transduction

  • Development of FRET-based sensors for measuring ABA levels

Page 18: Stress Perception and Responses

• Strategies Depicted:

  • Two significant response strategies: 'Play-it-safe' (avoiding risk) versus 'Happy-go-lucky' (continued growth despite risks)

Page 19: Breeding Strategies Based on Conditions

• Adapting Varieties:

  • Development of crop varieties should account for local field conditions

  • Breeding must be scenario-driven to improve resilience under specific stress conditions

Page 20: Trehalose Accumulation in Plants

• Benefits of Trehalose:

  • Acts as compatible solute in osmoregulation

  • Study on trehalose biosynthesis in rice for improved drought and salt recovery

Page 21: Evolution of Crops

• Historical Genetic Diversity:

  • Summary of crop evolution and genetic limitations

  • Need to return to landraces for genetic diversity

Page 22: Allelic Diversity Timeline

• Comparison of Diversity:

  • Timeline of genetic diversity from wild progenitor species to elite cultivars

Page 23: Genetic Variation Studies

• Methodologies:

  • Use of quantitative genetics, molecular marker loci to define genetic populations

  • Approaches utilizing natural variation for phenotyping

Page 24: Phenomics in Trait Determination

• Environment Description:

  • Conditions required for accurate trait determination: quantitative, precise, and high throughput

Page 25: Research Facilities

• Plant Science Group at Glasgow:

  • Focus on stomatal physiology and photosynthesis to support crop development studies

Page 26: Phenotyping Root Traits

• Innovative Techniques:

  • "Shovelomics" for studying root traits with various technology applications

Page 27: Breakthrough in Root Architecture Analysis

• Technology:

  • EZ-Root-VIS software for rapid analysis of root architecture for agricultural research

Page 28: Interested in Plant Science?

• Programs Offered:

  • BSc/MSci in Molecular & Cellular Biology with a focus on plant science

• Research Themes: Groups dedicated to exploring plant interaction with the environment

• Links:

  • References to resources and latest plant science news at University of Glasgow.