Starches and sugars play a vital role in the growth and development of plants. A component of this sugar signaling named Trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) has been hypothesized to function as a sensor of carbohydrate status in leaves, the carbohydrate source, and has also been shown to take a pivotal role in the distribution of sucrose among various tissues such as flowers and seeds, which will be the ultimate sinks for carbohydrates as they grow and develop. Fine-tuning these source-sink dynamics in plants by altering sugar signaling components might be an important route to improve crop yields. Excitingly, a recent study, by Griffiths et al., (2016) showed that altering sugar signaling via application of T6P improved seed yield as well as recovery from drought. A key insight was making a chemical modification to circumvent a major barrier in enhance T6P’s penetrability into plants as well as controlling its potency by sunlight-triggered release. Modifications to T6P were accomplished by masking charges on T6P to increase hydrophobicity and to increase the efficacy of light-induced uncaging from precursor molecules. Spraying the ears of corn plants with the modified T6P was found to drive more starch into developing seeds, increasing grain size. The beneficial effects extended across crop plants, as application of modified T6P to drought-treated plants improved plant recovery from drought stress in wheat as well. This new technology seems very promising for boosting productivity in farming regions affected by untimely droughts.
--Srinidhi Holalu