Uncovering Biological Processes Underlying Stress-Induced Yield Losses with KeySeeQTM

Abiotic stresses such as salinity cause major yield losses in crops worldwide. While many of the impacts of these stresses on plant physiology, development and yield are well characterized, the molecular processes that initially perceive and ultimately control a plant's response to a specific environmental stress remain largely unknown. One of the major obstacles to the identification of such key molecular regulators of yield protection is that mechanisms of abiotic stress resistance and susceptibility often operate differently in different genotypes, tissues and developmental stages in addition to different agroecological environments. Thus, the ability to identify key regulators is inherently limited by the degree to which a given study can be conducted under biologically relevant conditions that allow the true biological signal to be observed. Fortunately, the rising flood of "omics" data presents many new opportunities to uncover these complex interactions. Specifically, the public availability of numerous transcriptomic datasets obtained from different genotypes, tissues, developmental stages and stress treatments provides an excellent resource upon which the impact of abiotic stress on yield can be examined. Here, the novel and comprehensive KeySeeQ^TM approach was used to decipher the transcriptional programs underlying the perception of and response to abiotic stress in a crop.

Application for trademark registration for KeySeeQ has been filed by Keygene N.V.