A non-rectifying potassium channel increases cassava drought tolerance and storage root yield
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: Cassava ( Manihot esculenta ) is an important crop for food security in the tropics, particularly for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, where yields are often severely limited by pathogen pressure, nutrient deficiency, and water scarcity. We expressed a non-rectifying Arabidopsis thaliana potassium (K + ) channel gene version, AKT2 var , in the vascular tissue of cassava plants. The transgenic cassava plants had higher electron transport and CO₂ assimilation rates, a higher bulk flow velocity, and increased source-sink carbohydrate transport, as demonstrated by comparative 11 C-positron emission tomography and tissue-specific metabolite profiling. Cassava storage root yield was significantly increased in greenhouse experiments and in a multi-year field trial conducted under subtropical conditions. AKT2 var plants were also more tolerant to drought stress and had higher storage root yield. Targeted alteration of K + transport is therefore a promising strategy to improve cassava productivity without additional fertilizer input and in climate-adverse growing conditions.
Language: English
Topic: Cassava research and cyanide
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4410838738