Triggers for food crop growth are complex and new research by South Australian plant scientists is investigating one way wheat responds to common stresses such as poor soil health.
"This emerging research suggests that GABA is a signal in plants, not only regulating numerous normal developmental processes such as root growth, stomatal aperture and pollen tube germination but also responses to stresses such as aluminum toxicity and salinity," says Dr. Sunita Ramesh, lead author of the research published in the journal Biology.
Using the aluminum-tolerant wheat variety (Triticum aestivum), researchers from Flinders University, the University of Adelaide and Waite Research Institute experimented with a plant derived pharmacological agent, picrotoxin, to distinguish between the transport capabilities of proteins involved in conferring aluminum tolerance.
Outcomes of this study indicate that picrotoxin blocks transport of negatively charged ions through the protein but allows transport of GABA and that the transport is dependent on the conformation of the protein.
The experiment is a stepping stone in understanding the role of other agents to reduce or enhance GABA activity in plant crops, says co-author Abolfazl Dashtbani-Roozbehani, also from the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University.
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