United Kingdom
September 16, 2008
 New
research from the John
Innes Centre and the Central Science Laboratory could help
breeders to develop pea varieties able to withstand drought
stress and climate change. The research also shows that the
composition of crops is likely to change with the climate.
"While many compounds have been reported to change in laboratory
based drought stress experiments, few have identified how such
compounds change in crops under field conditions," says Dr
Claire Domoney of the John Innes Centre.
The researchers used NMR spectroscopy to produce a profile of
the levels of all the different small molecules or metabolites
in pea plant leaves. This profile, known as the metabolome, was
then compared with that from plants subjected to controlled
drought stress. The study found several key plant metabolites
increased under drought stress, some of which had not previously
been shown to be involved.
Less water, especially at critical times in the growing season,
means lower yield and quality. This new information could be
used to identify varieties of pea and other pulse crops that are
more tolerant to changes in water availability.
Drought stress also induced changes in compounds that could have
an impact on taste and flavour. Changes in climate are likely to
alter the characteristics of commercial crops and could possibly
affect their value. Peas and other legumes make a valuable
contribution to sustainable food production by fixing nitrogen
in the soil for the next crop, reducing the need for nitrogen
fertilizer.
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Diversity of pea seeds collected from different parts of
the world for genetic studies |
Responses of the pea (Pisum
sativum L.) leaf metabolome to drought stress assessed by
nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
Adrian J. Charlton , James A. Donarski, Mark Harrison,
Stephen A. Jones, John Godward, Sarah Oehlschlager, Juan L.
Arques, Mike Ambrose, Catherine Chinoy, Philip M. Mullineaux and
Claire Domoney
Metabolomics, December 2008 4(4) DOI:10.1007/s11306-008-0128-0
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