Advantage and Core Benefit
- Novel Concept: Controls stomatal opening and closing.
- Climate Change Adaptation: Enables product development to protect crops from the effects of global warming.
Background and Technology
The progression of global warming has significantly altered agricultural environments in recent years. Increased high temperatures and drought conditions particularly affect drought-sensitive crop species, raising concerns about reduced yields and quality degradation. As a result, there is a growing demand for protective agents to enhance crop drought tolerance.
Plant stomata open and close in response to temperature, regulating water balance through transpiration. Under high-temperature conditions, open stomata lead to excessive water loss, which can severely damage drought-sensitive crops. Therefore, technology that controls stomatal movement to enhance drought tolerance presents an attractive concept.
The inventors discovered that benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), a natural compound found in Brassicales plants, exhibits high activity in suppressing stomatal opening. BITC was confirmed to inhibit stomatal opening in plants like Commelina and Arabidopsis thaliana. Moreover, the researchers successfully developed BITC derivatives, one of which, m-bis-BITC, demonstrated greater activity. When m-bis-BITC was applied to soil-grown plants, it conferred drought tolerance for over 24 hours. No adverse effects on the plants were observed even 10 days after application.
Data
- Efficacy in Stomatal Suppression: When BITC and m-bis-BITC were applied to intact chrysanthemum leaves, m-bis-BITC showed effective stomatal suppression at lower concentrations and exhibited greater persistence than abscisic acid (ABA) (Figures A, B).
- Drought Tolerance in Chinese Cabbage: bis-BITC was sprayed on Chinese cabbage under drought conditions with an adjuvant, resulting in reduced wilting after 24 hours (Figure C).
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Patent & Publication
Patent: WO2023-210570
Publication: DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38102-7
Researcher
Dr. Yusuke Aihara, Dr. Ayato Sato, and Dr. Toshinori Kinoshita
(Nagoya University)
Expectations
We seek partnerships with agrochemical companies interested in developing practical crop protection agents to enhance drought tolerance. BITC derivatives, including m-bis-BITC, are available for material transfer agreements (MTA) for evaluation trials.
Project No.WL-04215b