Instant Insights: Drought-Resistant Crops

Dr Nguyen is Curators' Distinguished Professor of Plant Genetics and Biotechnology at the University of Missouri, USA. He is former Director of the National Center for Soybean Biotechnology. Professor Nguyen is internationally recognized for his pioneering research into the molecular genetics of plant stress resistance as well a leading role in mapping the soybean genome. He is a Fellow of the Crop Science Society of America, the American Society of Agronomy and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Professor Nguyen has also served on the editorial boards of a number of journals, including Crop Science, Molecular Breeding, Frontier in Plant Science, Theoretical and Applied Genetics, BMC Genomics, and The Plant Genome. Dr Shoba Sivasankar was formerly the Director of both the CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and the Research Program on Dryland Cereals. She was based at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India.

Chapter 1 - Improving drought and heat tolerance in wheat: Xinguo Mao, Institute of Crop Science , Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China; Delong Yang, Gansu Agricultural University, China; and Ruilian Jing, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China; 1 Introduction 2 Exploiting physiological traits to assist traditional wheat breeding 3 Genetic analysis and identifi cation of molecular markers: overview 4 Genetic analysis and identifi cation of molecular markers: key physiological traits 5 Genes conferring drought tolerance in wheat: overview 6 Genes conferring drought tolerance in wheat: the roles of protein kinase and phosphatase, TFs and functional genes 7 HS-responsive genes identifi ed in wheat 8 The current status of genetically modifi ed wheat 9 Conclusions and future trends 10 Where to look for further information 11 Abbreviations 12 References
Chapter 2 - Mechanisms of drought tolerance in rice: Anuj Kumar, Supratim Basu, Venkategowda Ramegowda and Andy Pereira, University of Arkansas, USA; 1 Introduction 2 Mechanisms of drought resistance 3 Assessing drought tolerance performance 4 Identifying genes promoting drought tolerance: quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis 5 Genetic engineering for drought tolerance 6 Drought-protective genes 7 Plant hormones affecting drought tolerance 8 Future trends in research 9 Where to look for further information 10 Acknowledgements 11 References
Chapter 3 - Advances in the drought and heat resistance of soybean: Heng Ye, Babu Valliyodan, Li Song, J. Grover Shannon, Pengyin Chen and Henry T. Nguyen, University of Missouri, USA; 1 Introduction 2 Drought resistance traits: introduction, root system architectures and anatomy 3 Other traits for drought resistance and heat tolerance 4 Genomic resources and strategies 5 Advance in breeding for drought and heat resistance 6 Conclusions and future perspectives 7 Acknowledgements 8 References
Chapter 4 - Developing drought- and heat-tolerant varieties of grain legumes: Shoba Sivasankar, Former Director, CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes; 1 Introduction 2 Physiological responses in adaptation to stress 3 Biochemical and molecular responses in adaptation to stress 4 Development of tolerance 5 Critical contemporary considerations for strengthened research 6 Crop management for abiotic stress tolerance 7 Conclusion 8 Where to look for further information 9 References