Date of Award
9-18-2020
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Applied Science
First Advisor
Mariya Khodakovskaya
Abstract
Abiotic stress is one of the major factors which affects plant productivity. The generation of stress-tolerant crops is a pressing need and a major challenge in the field of plant biology. Rice and soybean are the major crops in Arkansas that significantly contribute to state’s economy. Arkansas is one of the hardest-hit states during the drought season. Several approaches have been used for the regulation of abiotic stress tolerance in crops. Here, we have used two different approaches: the classical genetic engineering approach and the nanotechnological approach for improving plant growth as well as enhancing abiotic stress tolerance in the two major Arkansas crops: rice and soybean. We also attempted to analyze if a newly developed nanotechnological approach can be equally efficient as the genetic approach for improving stress tolerance in crops. We used two different strategies for the genetic approach: first by termination of ERECTA signaling in soybean and the second through the silencing of the OsSYT-5 gene in rice, both of which affect major plant stress signaling pathways. By nanotechnological approach, we improved plant growth as well as enhanced the plant’s stress tolerance using two types of carbon-based nanomaterials: multi-walled carbon-based nanotubes and graphene. Generated results indicated that both strategies (genetic engineering and nanotechnology) led to the similar level of enhancement of drought tolerance and growth of the tested crop species, thereby suggesting that the nanotechnological approach is a good alternative to the genetic approach.
Recommended Citation
Shanmugam, Sudha, "Enhancement of Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Rice and Soybean by Biotechnological and Nanotechnological Approaches" (2020). Theses and Dissertations. 960.
https://research.ualr.edu/etd/960
