Tequila Plant May Inspire Drought Resistant Crops

Agave – the cactus like plant used to make tequila – can survive the driest of conditions by “breathing” at night, scientist has found. Now, they hope to harness the plant’s reverse “body clock” to engineer drought-resistant crops that can adapt to changing climate. Researchers from Newcastle University found for the first time that the stomata – or “breathing” pores – on the Agave’s leaves remain shutting during the day to minimize water loss. Most plants keep their stomata open during the day so they can take in carbon dioxide and use the sunlight for photosynthesis. Thus, they lose water rapidly through evaporation. In the so-called CAM plants – Crassulacean Acid Metabolism plants like the Agave – several of the genes controlling stomata opening have had their abundance rescheduled or ‘flipped’ from being more abundant during the day to more abundant at night. Storing the carbon from the CO2 taken up overnight, the plants photosynthesis in the day like others but are able to carry out the process without opening their stomata.