Scientists Are Developing Heatwave-Resistant Plants Amid Worsening Climate Crisis

Scientists Are Developing , Heatwave-Resistant Plants , Amid Worsening Climate Crisis.

About 40% of all crops are lost to pests and disease through modern agricultural methods.

'The Independent' reports that the outlook has become even more grim as the climate crisis worsens.

Heatwaves can decimate crops, impacting supplies of human food, livestock feed and biofuel.

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High temperatures can also impact plants' defenses against pathogens and insects.

A team of scientists at U.S. and Chinese institutions believe they have identified the exact process which leads to failing plant immunity as temperatures rise.

The team has worked out a method of stopping this process and boosting the plants' defenses during periods of higher temperatures.

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Plants get a lot more infections at warm temperatures because their level of basal immunity is down.

, Sheng-Yang He, study lead author and biology professor at North Carolina’s Duke University, via 'The Independent'.

Researchers discovered that levels of a defense hormone called salicylic acid rise by up to seven-fold when plants come under attack by predators or diseases.

We were able to make the whole plant immune system [for thale cress] more robust at warm temperatures, Sheng-Yang He, study lead author and biology professor at North Carolina’s Duke University, via 'The Independent'.

If this is true for crop plants as well, that’s a really big deal because then we have a very powerful weapon, Sheng-Yang He, study lead author and biology professor at North Carolina’s Duke University, via 'The Independent'.

The team's work was published , in the journal 'Nature.'