Water Stress is becoming an increasing reality for crops.
When soil humidity is low, plants photosynthesize less, resulting in smaller harvests at best or total crop failure at worst.
But plants have biochemical mechanisms that help them tolerate drought. When sensing trouble, they can produce solutes that retain water inside the leaves or activate different resource allocation strategies. Oftentimes, these responses are activated when the drought is already present and are meant to support the plant's survival, not to produce a sufficient crop.
Stefania is researching how two types of biotechnological inputs (a PGPR bacterium and a strawberry plant extract) can stimulate soybeans' drought response. Her results indicate that it is possible to strengthen crops against drought before water shortages occur, using sustainable, naturally occurring products. The next step is to understand the genetic paths that lead to this stimulation. Ultimately, it is another effort towards sustainable drought-resistant agriculture, a priority in a changing climate.
We thank Dr. Paula Filippone (Universidad Nacional de Tucuman) and Dr. Sabina Vidal Macchi (Universidad de la Republica) for guiding Stefania in this research.
