PLANTS GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOR INCREASED WATER USE EFFICIENCY AND CARBON INTAKE AND METHODS FOR MAKING AND USING THEM

Abstract

In alternative embodiments, provided are compositions and methods for manipulating the exchange of water and/or carbon dioxide (CO2) through plant stomata comprising the step of modulating the expression of CO2 sensor genes and the redundant MAP kinases MPK4/MPK12, and HT1 protein kinase, and their genes. In alternative embodiments, provided are dominant active HT1 mutants that cause a high CO2-insensitive constitutively open stomatal phenotype. In alternative embodiments, the invention provides plants, and plant tissues, having increased water use efficiency, and drought-resistant plants, plant tissues and cells; and methods for engineering of water transpiration and water use efficiency in plants, and engineering plants with increased water use efficiency and drought-resistant plants, plant tissues and cells. For plants grown in humid regions with sufficient water availability, down-regulation of the CO2 sensor proteins provides plants that show less stomatal closing in light of the atmospheric CO2 increase for enabling enhanced CO2 influx into leaves.

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