Researchers at the University of Illinois have engineered a new variety of potato that demonstrates extraordinary resilience to climate change, achieving a 30 per cent increase in tuber mass under extreme heat conditions.
This development stands to bolster food security in regions where potato cultivation is vital, addressing the pressing challenges posed by rising global temperatures, according to the press release.
“We need to produce crops that can withstand more frequent and intense heatwave events if we are going to meet the population’s need for food in regions most at risk from reduced yields due to global warming,” says Katherine Meacham-Hensold, scientific project manager for the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) initiative at Illinois. “The 30 per cent increase in tuber mass observed in our field trials shows the promise of improving photosynthesis to enable climate-ready crops.”
Under Meacham-Hensold’s guidance, the RIPE project aims to enhance global food access by developing efficient food crops.
A Game-Changer for Potato Cultivation
The potato-growing industry faces increasing threats from climate change, including reduced yields and unpredictable weather patterns. This study tackles these challenges head-on and demonstrates that engineered potatoes can thrive under conditions that would typically hinder growth.
Photorespiration, a process that can reduce yields by up to 40 per cent in important crops, causes plants to divert energy to eliminate toxic byproducts rather than promoting growth. The new research addresses this inefficiency.
“Photorespiration is a large energy cost for the plant,” Meacham-Hensold says. “It takes away from food production as energy is diverted to metabolizing the toxin. Our goal was to reduce the amount of wasted energy by bypassing the plant’s original photorespiratory pathway.”
Past research revealed that adding two additional genes—glycolate dehydrogenase and malate synthase—to model plants can significantly enhance photosynthetic efficiency, allowing the plants to grow stronger and healthier even in adverse conditions.
Field Trials Show Promise Amid Rising Temperatures
The results of recent field trials, published in Global Change Biology, underscore the potential for transforming potato cultivation as global warming progresses. During the 2022 field season, extreme heat conditions—soaring above 35°C for four straight days—provided a real-world test for these modified potatoes. The outcome was remarkable: these new varieties produced 30 per cent more tubers than traditional counterparts, showcasing their ability to leverage improved thermotolerance and photosynthetic efficiency.
“Another important feature of this study was the demonstration that our genetic engineering of photosynthesis that produced these yield increases had no impact on the nutritional quality of the potato,” says Don Ort, Robert Emerson Professor of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences and Deputy Director of the RIPE project. “Food security is not just about the amount of calories that can be produced; we must also consider the quality of the food.”
