{"id":56254,"date":"2026-03-19T05:20:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/?post_type=disclosure&#038;p=56254"},"modified":"2026-03-19T09:02:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T16:02:52","slug":"how-do-thirsty-plants-hold-out-during-drought","status":"publish","type":"disclosure","link":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/news-release\/how-do-thirsty-plants-hold-out-during-drought\/","title":{"rendered":"\u5e72\u6e34\u7684\u690d\u7269\u5982\u4f55\u5728\u5e72\u65f1\u4e2d\u575a\u6301\u4e0b\u6765\uff1f"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style: none; padding-left: -20px !important; margin-left: -20px !important;\"><strong>Highlights<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Salk scientists debut gene expression atlas of plant leaves across development, comparing normal versus drought conditions <\/li>\n<li>The atlas reveals drought accelerates leaf aging; pinpoints a gene that helps leaves keep growing under stress <\/li>\n<li>The study clears the path to more drought-tolerant crops, which would protect yields and reduce farmer losses during mild droughts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u52a0\u62c9\u970d\u4e9a\u2014\u81ea\u672c\u4e16\u7eaa\u521d\u4ee5\u6765\uff0c\u7f8e\u56fd\u548c\u58a8\u897f\u54e5\u4e00\u76f4\u5904\u4e8e\u5386\u53f2\u6027\u7684\u7279\u5927\u5e72\u65f1\u4e4b\u4e2d\u3002\u4e8c\u5341\u591a\u5e74\u6765\uff0c\u7f8e\u56fd\u897f\u5357\u90e8\u4e00\u76f4\u9762\u4e34\u7740\u8fd9\u573a\u7279\u5927\u5e72\u65f1\u9020\u6210\u7684\u4e25\u5cfb\u793e\u4f1a\u548c\u7ecf\u6d4e\u540e\u679c\u2014\u2014\u4ec5\u5728 2021 \u5e74\uff0c\u52a0\u5229\u798f\u5c3c\u4e9a\u5c31\u906d\u53d7\u4e86 $11 \u4ebf\u7f8e\u5143\u7684\u519c\u4e1a\u635f\u5931\u3002\u5728\u8fd9\u4e9b\u6761\u4ef6\u4e0b\u6301\u7eed\u5b58\u5728\u7684\u60c5\u51b5\u4e0b\uff0c\u6211\u4eec\u5982\u4f55\u624d\u80fd\u5e2e\u52a9\u4f5c\u7269\u5728\u5c3d\u91cf\u51cf\u5c11\u4ea7\u91cf\u635f\u5931\u7684\u540c\u65f6\u62b5\u5fa1\u5e72\u65f1\uff1f<\/p>\n<p>Salk Institute scientists profiled nearly a million cells from the leaves of <em>Arabidopsis thaliana<\/em>, a small flowering plant that serves as a laboratory stand-in for important crops like corn, wheat, and rice. The team measured changes in gene expression in these cells across different drought levels and leaf developmental stages and compiled the data into a public atlas.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_51615\"  class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ecker-PR-20240905-9E4A1027s-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"458\" height=\"305\" class=\"img-responsive wp-image-51615 size-col-md-5\" src=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ecker-PR-20240905-9E4A1027s-458x305.jpg\" alt=\"Joseph Ecker (left) and Joseph Swift (right) debuted a high-resolution atlas that shows how droughts affect plant cells.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ecker-PR-20240905-9E4A1027s-458x305.jpg 458w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ecker-PR-20240905-9E4A1027s-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ecker-PR-20240905-9E4A1027s-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ecker-PR-20240905-9E4A1027s-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ecker-PR-20240905-9E4A1027s-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ecker-PR-20240905-9E4A1027s-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ecker-PR-20240905-9E4A1027s-147x98.jpg 147w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ecker-PR-20240905-9E4A1027s-585x390.jpg 585w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ecker-PR-20240905-9E4A1027s-553x369.jpg 553w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ecker-PR-20240905-9E4A1027s-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ecker-PR-20240905-9E4A1027s-767x512.jpg 767w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ecker-PR-20240905-9E4A1027s-945x630.jpg 945w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 458px) 100vw, 458px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joseph Ecker (left) and Joseph Swift (right) debuted a high-resolution atlas that shows how droughts affect plant cells.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Ecker-PR-20240905-9E4A1027s-scaled.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here<\/a> for a high-resolution image.<br \/>Credit: Salk Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The new atlas revealed that drought conditions accelerate leaf aging, but a specific gene could be used to rescue leaf growth during drought.<\/p>\n<p>The study, published in <a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.com\/v3\/__https:\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41477-026-02254-3__;!!GX6Nv3_Pjr8b-17qtCok029Ok438DqXQ!1QXTtkVgZnHl_fF56fOkqqEd4VrzGwtYyBh3iv_JQ2pi_jbaC-7j-AVT6oh70HqK5XOtEI8U7-pa7GospA$\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Nature Plants<\/em><\/a> on March 19, 2026, provides a roadmap that could help researchers engineer crop varieties that better maintain growth during drought.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have been grinding up leaves and looking at general gene expression for a long time now\u2014this is the first time we are looking at drought with cell type-specific resolution,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/scientist\/joseph-ecker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Joseph Ecker, PhD,<\/a> senior author of the study, professor and holder of the Salk International Council Chair in Genetics at Salk, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. \u201cWe are pushing the boundaries of what is known, and this atlas provides a really critical view into how plants are impacted by their environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-size: 20px; margin-top: 40px;\"><strong>Do dead leaves make me a bad plant parent?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Plants go through cycles of death and new life, as old leaves fall and new ones bud. This process of aging and development is far more flexible than it is for humans\u2014plants can slow, stop, or speed up aging depending on the situation. For instance, in the face of extreme weather like drought, plants begin to rapidly age and shed older leaves while slowing the growth of new leaves. In doing so, the plant preserves its resources and stays alive.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately for farmers, this tactic harms productivity and overall crop yields, resulting in economic losses. And while this stress response, characterized by rapid aging and slowed renewal, is well documented, the genetic underpinnings of leaf growth during drought remain unknown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we can determine how plants fine-tune their growth in response to environmental stress, we can potentially use this information to develop new crop varieties that maintain productivity under water-limited conditions\u2014an increasingly important challenge as droughts become more frequent,\u201d says Joseph Swift, PhD, first author of the study and former postdoctoral researcher in Ecker\u2019s lab.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-size: 20px; margin-top: 40px;\"><strong>What happens inside leaves during drought?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Behind every cell\u2019s identity and behavior is a genetic program. There are many genes in each cell, but only a select number are expressed based on that cell type\u2019s unique needs. Leaves contain many different specialized cells\u2014ones for transporting water, photosynthesizing, forming the leaf\u2019s \u201cskin,\u201d and so on. Studies that examine overall gene expression across the entire leaf miss these differences between cell types.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_56256\"  class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-microscopy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"458\" height=\"458\" class=\"img-responsive wp-image-56256 size-col-md-5\" src=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-microscopy-458x458.jpg\" alt=\"Salk researchers discover the gene Ferric Reduction Oxidase 6 (green) regulates Arabidopsis thaliana leaf size during drought.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-microscopy-458x458.jpg 458w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-microscopy-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-microscopy-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-microscopy-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-microscopy-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-microscopy-767x767.jpg 767w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-microscopy-147x147.jpg 147w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-microscopy-585x585.jpg 585w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-microscopy-553x553.jpg 553w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-microscopy-750x750.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-microscopy-945x945.jpg 945w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-microscopy.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 458px) 100vw, 458px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salk researchers discover the gene Ferric Reduction Oxidase 6 (green) regulates <em>Arabidopsis thaliana<\/em> leaf size during drought.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-microscopy.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here<\/a> for a high-resolution image.<br \/>Credit: Salk Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>To fix this, the Salk researchers created a gene expression atlas with single-nucleus resolution. The team surveyed 1,226 <em>Arabidopsis <\/em>leaves, totaling just under one million cell nuclei, including normally grown and watered plants and plants exposed to drought, at various developmental stages.<\/p>\n<p>When the researchers compared the gene expression profiles of all these cells, they found that over the nine-day drought, the leaves accelerated their aging, resulting in smaller leaves. Gene programs related to leaf maturity and aging began activating earlier than normal due to drought stress. The worse the drought conditions, the more intense the expression of aging-related genes.<\/p>\n<p>The aging gene programs were especially pronounced in leaf cells responsible for photosynthesis, called mesophyll cells. They also found specific gene, Ferric Reduction Oxidase 6 (FRO6), was regulating <em>Arabidopsis <\/em>leaf size during drought.<\/p>\n<p>The team was especially excited to discover that when they increased FRO6 expression in mesophyll cells, the plant partially maintained leaf growth under drought stress.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-size: 20px; margin-top: 40px;\"><strong>Could drought-tolerant plants help farmers?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_56258\"  class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-arabidopsis.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"458\" height=\"228\" class=\"img-responsive wp-image-56258 size-col-md-5\" src=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-arabidopsis-458x228.jpg\" alt=\"37-day-old Arabidopsis thaliana grown under either well-watered conditions (left) or subject to nine days of drought (right).\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-arabidopsis-458x228.jpg 458w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-arabidopsis-300x149.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-arabidopsis-1024x509.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-arabidopsis-768x382.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-arabidopsis-147x73.jpg 147w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-arabidopsis-585x291.jpg 585w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-arabidopsis-553x275.jpg 553w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-arabidopsis-750x373.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-arabidopsis-767x381.jpg 767w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-arabidopsis-945x470.jpg 945w, https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-arabidopsis.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 458px) 100vw, 458px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">37-day-old <em>Arabidopsis thaliana<\/em> grown under either well-watered conditions (left) or subject to nine days of drought (right).<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ecker-pr-arabidopsis.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here<\/a> for a high-resolution image.<br \/>Credit: Salk Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cUsually when we try to engineer drought resistance,\u201d explains Swift, \u201cthe plant ends up stunted, because you\u2019re essentially telling it not to grow. Of course, that isn\u2019t what we want out in the field. FRO6 may be a way to encourage plants to keep growing during mild droughts, which would preserve important crop yield for farmers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These findings have the potential to reshape how crops handle drought, making them more resilient without sacrificing productivity. The findings also complement another recent study from Ecker\u2019s lab, which detailed a supercharged immune response that plants initiate post-drought called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/news-release\/all-drii-ed-up-how-do-plants-recover-after-drought\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Drought Recovery-Induced Immunity (DRII)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur previous study, published last summer, explained how plants recover from drought, and now we know how they respond <em>during <\/em>the drought,\u201d says Ecker. \u201cFrom here, we can strategize how to create more robust crops that can better withstand these environmental challenges to protect the global food supply.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-size: 20px; margin-top: 40px;\"><strong>Other authors and funding<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Other authors include Xuelin Wu, Jiaying Xu, Carl Procko, Tanvi Jain, Natanella Illouz-Eliaz, Joseph Nery, and Joanne Chory of Salk. The work was supported by the Life Science Research Foundation, American-Australian Association, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":56260,"template":"","faculty":[42],"disease-research":[125,451,452],"class_list":["post-56254","disclosure","type-disclosure","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","faculty-joseph-ecker","disease-research-plant-biology","disease-research-plant-genomics","disease-research-plant-physiology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How do thirsty plants hold out during drought? - Salk Institute for Biological Studies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/news-release\/how-do-thirsty-plants-hold-out-during-drought\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How do thirsty plants hold out during drought? - Salk Institute for Biological Studies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Highlights Salk scientists debut gene expression atlas of plant leaves across development, comparing normal versus drought conditions The atlas reveals drought accelerates leaf aging; pinpoints a gene that helps leaves keep growing under stress The study clears the path to more drought-tolerant crops, which would protect yields and reduce farmer losses during mild droughts LA JOLLA\u2014The United States and Mexico have been in a historic megadrought since the turn of the century. For more than 25 years, the American Southwest has faced the severe social and economic consequences of this megadrought\u2014including a $1.1 billion agricultural loss in California in 2021 alone. 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For more than 25 years, the American Southwest has faced the severe social and economic consequences of this megadrought\u2014including a $1.1 billion agricultural loss in California in 2021 alone. With these conditions persisting, how can we help crops withstand drought while minimizing yield loss?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/news-release\/how-do-thirsty-plants-hold-out-during-drought\/","og_site_name":"Salk Institute for Biological Studies","article_modified_time":"2026-03-19T16:02:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":767,"height":767,"url":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/260319-ecker-pr-homepage.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/how-do-thirsty-plants-hold-out-during-drought\/","url":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/how-do-thirsty-plants-hold-out-during-drought\/","name":"How do thirsty plants hold out during drought? - Salk Institute for Biological Studies","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/how-do-thirsty-plants-hold-out-during-drought\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/how-do-thirsty-plants-hold-out-during-drought\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/260319-ecker-pr-homepage.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-19T12:20:58+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-19T16:02:52+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/how-do-thirsty-plants-hold-out-during-drought\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"zh-CN","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/how-do-thirsty-plants-hold-out-during-drought\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"zh-CN","@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/how-do-thirsty-plants-hold-out-during-drought\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/260319-ecker-pr-homepage.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/260319-ecker-pr-homepage.jpg","width":767,"height":767},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/news-release\/how-do-thirsty-plants-hold-out-during-drought\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How do thirsty plants hold out during drought?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/","name":"\u7d22\u5c14\u514b\u751f\u7269\u7814\u7a76\u6240","description":"The Power of Science","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"zh-CN"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/#organization","name":"\u7d22\u5c14\u514b\u751f\u7269\u7814\u7a76\u6240","url":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"zh-CN","@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/salk_logo_696.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/salk_logo_696.jpg","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"Salk Institute for Biological Studies"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"ACF":{"hero":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/260319-ecker-pr-header-1.jpg","line_1":"How do thirsty plants hold out during drought?","line_2":"Salk Institute scientists create high-resolution atlas showing how droughts affect plant cells and identify a gene that could be targeted to create more resilient crops","poster_quote":"","gallery":false,"paper_url":"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41477-026-02254-3","journal_title":"Nature Plants","paper_author_list":"Joseph Swift, Xuelin Wu, Jiaying Xu, Carl Procko, Tanvi Jain, Natanella Illouz-Eliaz, Joseph R. 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