28-2 Transgenic Approaches to Drought Tolerance In Maize.

See more from this Division: C02 Crop Physiology and Metabolism
See more from this Session: Symposium--Progress In Transformation for Physiological Traits Related to Tolerance to Environmental Stresses
Sunday, October 16, 2011: 3:25 PM
Henry Gonzalez Convention Center, Room 214C
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David C. Warner, Mark Cooper, Jeffrey Habben, Honor Lafitte, Carlos Messina, Jeffrey Schussler, Robert Williams and Thomas Greene, Ag Biotechnology, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Johnston, IA
As the third most important cereal under global cultivation, maize is exposed to a wide range of environmental conditions. Of these, drought is the most important abiotic stress for maize and can cause substantial losses in productivity. Continual improvements in hybrid maize yield potential under drought and improvements in management practices are requisites for conservation of valuable water resources and long term sustainable production.  For more than a decade, transgenes have served as a valuable source of novel genetic variation for drought tolerance. Transgenes interact with endogenous genes to expand selectable diversity. However, the discovery and development of transgenes used to improve drought tolerance requires expertise from many disciplines, a robust and diverse source of genes, relevant screens, phenotyping tools and a network of reliable managed-stress field testing locations. In this talk we provide an industry perspective of current transgenic approaches towards improving maize yields under water-limited conditions, and how we employ them through a multi-pronged approach.
See more from this Division: C02 Crop Physiology and Metabolism
See more from this Session: Symposium--Progress In Transformation for Physiological Traits Related to Tolerance to Environmental Stresses